G, GORT, ivy in the Ogham alphabet. The bird ... - Rodney Mackay

G, GORT, ivy in the Ogham alphabet. The bird geis, the mute
swan; the colour gorm, blue; the dates: September 30 until
October 27.
GAB, a tattling mouth, from Scot. gab, gabbach, garrulous,
scolding, talkative, a gossiping female, MEng. gabben , to
chatter, mock, gab. The Norse gabb, mockery. The Eng. gab.
GÀBAIRT, a transport ship, cf. Scot. gabert, a lighter,
possibly from Fr. gabarre, a ship carrying stores.
GÀBHADH, danger, peril, emergency, jeopardy, surprise,
wonder, obs. gabhadach, artful, cunning, EIr. gád, danger.
Lat. hé-res. See next.
GABHADH-BHEI, “in danger from fire,” the druidical ordeal
by fire as a proof of honesty of intent or innocence. Survival
from the flames was considered to vindicate the applicant.
The next word is related.
GABHANN, flattery, word magic, gossip, from gabh, “to take
in.” Gab, a tattle-tale, gabhadh, danger, peril, gabhar, a goat.
The Eng. gab, gabby. See boc and the words immediately
below. See next.
GABHD, to take, a crafty trick from Sc. gaud, a trick, from
Latin gaudium. The Eng. give. See above and below.
GABHLAN, a wanderer devoid of care, a trickster, a “goatman.”
Strangers were credited with honouring "crafty" gods
and were thought apt to cheat people since they had no

obligations in the community they visited. See above
entries. The goat is particularly associated with the
nature-spirit known as Cernu.
GABHRA CATHA, the Battle of Gowra, Ireland; the last great
conflict in which the Féinn took part and were
exterminated. Cairbre, the high-king, hoping to curb the
power of what had become a private army following the
death of Fionn mac Cumhail, provoked a quarrel. The Féinn,
led by Osgar, fought against Clan Morna, who sided with the
king. In the battle Cairbre and Osgar killed one another. The
site of this battle is usually given as Garristown, County
Dublin.
GACHANNACH. Any drink strong enough to make one gasp.
Harsh.
GAD, a withe, thong, cord, iron bar, inherent in a bad sense;
Lat. hasta, a spear, Eng. gad, a bar, also our word yard. The
Gaelic spear was reusable being attached to the wrist with
a thong. Gadluinn, a slender human, a feeble fellow, a
salmon after spawning. The Daoine sidh or “little people”
were not small but tall and slender. Thus a device used by
these folk. The cliabhan or creel was made by twisting and
interweaving the gad. In days past a newly married couple
was supplied with two creels filled with stones which were
set upon the back of “a steady horse.” The animal was
encouraged to wander and when some of the gad snapped
under the stones and the baskets fell to earth this was
understood to be the place where the new couple should
build a home and raise a family. As the proverb says “The
land that comes must be accepted!” Before the withes could
be used to make baskets they had to be steeped in water;
thus Is mithich a bhi bogadh nan gad, “It is time to wet the
withes,” implies any preparations made for a journey.
GAE BULG, GAE BOLG a “belly spear,” a “bag spear,” the
"magical" weapon carried by Cúchullain. Said to be "a
notched spear" made from "the bones of a sea-monster." Gad,
gath, a dart, a sting, a rod made of metal, bulas, hooked,

also, bolla, a bowl or vessel. similar to Eng. buoy. Rolleston
says the weapon was foot-propelled.
Cúchullain was given his gae bolg by one of the Daoine
sidh, the warrior queen known as Aoife, who he seduced
while in training on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. In his first
encounter with it Cu Cúchullain killed his own son Connla,
born of this "fairy-maiden." Thus the balancing of the
tables; men who were given great advantages by the Bafinne
or “Fates” were led to expect equal disadvantages.
Cúchullain also used this weapon to kill his friend Ferdiad
and Queen Mebd’s champion Loc mac Mofebis. Although the
rod made one entry wound it opened into thirty individual
hooks within the body, “filling every limb and crevice with
wounds.”
This mystery weapon was probably of two distinct
parts, viz. the Scot. bools, a pot hook consisting of two
articulated parts, the Eng. bow, which has a similar
construction. The word also confers with bolt and bag, and
may bear some relationship with the people who were
called the Firbolge. It is known that the active part of the
weapon was bounced beneath body armour from the ground,
so it may have resembled the catapults which were used by
the Norse, and are mentioned in the Kings Mirror.
They had a long lever-arm, at the outer end of which
was a bowl or sling. In it was laid a heavy round stone, or
more rarely a container for combustible matter. It is stated
that the armament was jarthkol, or “coal ground into
sulphur. The so-called “casting-stones” were baked clay
with pebbles embedded in it. When these clay balls were
slung out, “they burst in pieces and the enemy was left
with nothing to throw back.” In the literature the “great
black ball” used as shot is referred to as “a sheep’s
paunch,” which suggests it may have been contained in a
leather bag.
When the Norse used it against the Greenlanders it
made the distinctive herbrestr, or “war-crash, which has

een likened to the explosion of a volcano. One was
demonstrated at the court of Eric Magnusson, in Bergen, at
the Yule in 1294. “It gives such a loud report that few men
can bear to hear it, women who are with child and hear the
crash are prematurely delivered, and men fall from their
seats to the floor, or have various fits.” A local named
Thrand showed Laurentius (bishop of Iceland, 1323-30)
what was necessary to produce the crash: fire, brimstone,
parchment and tow (apparently saltpetre). Men often take
recourse to this weapon as those unfamiliar with it are
likely to take to flight.” As aruebusts or firearms were not
yet invented this device was called the prandar fisiler. This
may relate to the ON. fusillus, a device for striking fire. The
word herbrestr is likely to confer with vábretr, “a crash
announcing great news or disaster, i.e. any production that
causes supernatural fear.”
It would seem that the gae bulg was the Celtic
precursor of this weapon, which may have passed from them
or the Norse to the Algonquin Indians of eastern North
America. Schoolcraft mentions the fact that the
aboriginals had “a weapon of war in ancient times, a great
round stone which was sewed into a piece of raw hide and
fastened thereby to the end of a long wooden shaft.” The
Skaelings, encountered by the Norse on their first recorded
visits to America had a similar device but it seems to have
lacked the explosive ingredients although the sound of the
hide-bags passing through the air was terrifying to the
Europeans.
Anne Ross has noted that this weapon could not be
extracted from the body “without tearing out the guts.” She
compares the device with the Celtic javelin described by
Diordotus Siculus: “Some of their spears are forged with a
straight head, while some are spiral with breaks throughout
their entire length so that the blow not only cuts but tears
the flesh, and recovery of the spear tears open the wound.”
GAE RUADH. The “Red Javelin,” the spear of the ocean-god
Manann mac Ler.

GAFANN, henbane, gaf, a hook, gafal, a nerve, gabhann.
gossip, from gabh, “taken in,” tricked by word-play. A fetid
Old World herb, a deadly poison to fowls. From this property
it is called “black henbane” and is included in preparations
such as the witch “flying-ointment,” and in medicines
having properties similar to that of belladonna.
GÀG CEUD, Prime Gap, “Beginning Cleft,” the first place of
life and being, An Domhain. ON. Ginnungugap. Gàg, a cleft, a
chink, Eng. gap and gape. Greek abyss from which the Eng.
chaos, Lat. fauces, the throat, Cy. gag, possibly the Eng. jag.
GAIAR. The son of Manann mac Ler whose affair with
Bécuma caused her exile from the western Atlantic land of
Tir Tairnigri.
GAIDHLIG, Gàidheal. Ir. Gaoidhilig, Gaedhilig, the Erse and
the Irish language. Gàidheal, a highland Scot; Gaoidheal, an
Irishman, EIr. Góedel, (1100 AD). Also seen as Gaideli. The
Cy. Gwyddel, Irishman. The root may be ghâdh, the Eng. good,
god, thus “god-like,” Germ. gud, etc. The word has been
compared with the Gaul. Geidumni, which confers with the
Lat. hoedus, a goat or “goat man.” Notice that the Scots
were, in historic times, referred to as “goat-men by
Continentals. See boc. The Gaelic root-word appears to be
ghadh from which their word gabhar and gabhlan, a
wandering man, one devoid of care.
Gaelic is currently considered to be the name of the
language and people of the Scottish Highlands. The oldest
foreign reference to Ireland, in the sixth century before
Christ, gives it the name Ierna. Aristotle in his Book of the
World also favoured this name. In the first half of the first
century Pomponius Mela called it Iuvernia, but the Romans
preferred Hibernbia or Scotia. The Scottish matter is
probably the most confusing element in Irish history, since
the related word Scotland was eventually applied to
Ireland’s northwestern neighbour, the land at first called
Alba. Scotia is a name from literate times but was claimed

to be derived from Scota, the first queen-mother of the
Milesians (and thus a counterpart of Danu). The term Scoti
was definitely preferred by continental writers as the name
for the people of Eiru. Thus it is explained that “Hibernia is
the nation of the Scots,” Scotia being a name “which links
itself to no land on earth.” As late as the seventh century,
we find native “Irishmen” referring to themselves as Scots
when they were in exile. Further, as time passed, they even
began to designate their homeland as “the land of Scots.”
In the third century the Scots began a colonization of
the southwestern peninsula of Dal Riada in Alba. The first
colonies in this new place received military help from Tara
in order to put down the neighbouring Picts.In the following
century, a Munsterman, Lugaid mac Conn, fleeing from
enemies, made himself the chief power in this new land.
From his son came the ancestors of the lords of Argyle; the
MacAllens, Campbells and the MacCallums. A hundred years
further on Cabri Riata established kingdoms in both Ireland
and Scotland. The Picts were not enamoured of any of this
and would have driven the Scots from their land, except for
the efforts of the high-king Niall of the Nine Hostages. The
effect of all this was the establishment of a huge military
presence in Alba by the sixth century, when it became an
independent kingdom under Aedh ard-righ. For a time it was
powerful enough to hold Antrim, in Ireland proper, as an
appanage. That was the state of things until the end of the
eight century when began to pressure them in Argyllshire
and Dalriada. Looking for a more secure place they marched
into Pictland and conducted campaigns against these people
until 850 A.D., when Cinead (Kenneth) mac Alpein
completely overthrew the Picts by very devious means, and
became high-king of all Scotia, Some claim that he even
subdued the Britons on his southern borders and the Anglo-
Danish population of the southeast.
At this time, with the Scotic people in a position of
power, Ireland was called Scotia Major and Scotland,
Scotia Minor, but the title fell away from Ireland as their
power waned. In the eleventh century, when all Scotland

was dominated by Gaelic-speakers (excepting headlands,
and the western and northern islands which were under the
Norse), the kingship passed to Mylcollum (Malcolm) who
married Margaret, a daughter of King Edmund, an Anglo-
Saxon monarch. Unfortunately for the Scots, he was easily
swayed by her, and their son Edgar was entirely English in
name and outlook. When he was crowned king, a division
developed between the highland tribes and the lowland
English kinsman of the king.
In the thirteenth century, Gaeldom flickered and went
out as a force in the north, the old Irish line becoming
extinct with Alisdair (Alexander III) in 1297. Afterwards
there began the long wars for succession which ended with
the old-English families of Bruce and Balliol firmly on the
throne of Old Scotland. There is some correspondence
between the old warrior-magicians of pre-Milesian times
and the Scots:
When the Scots invaded Alba they found present-day
Scotland divided into seven territories, and they continued
with these divisions. “Each district was termed a Tuath or
tribe; several Tuaths formed a Mortuath (sea-tribe) or
great tribe, two or more Mortuaths a Coicidh or province, at
the head of which was the righ, or King. Each province
contributed a portion of its territory at their junctions to
form a central district, which was the capital of the whole
country, and the King who was elected to be its sovereign
had his seat of government here. The central district, where
the four southern met was Perthshire and counted Scone as
its capital. The northern Tuaths adjoined at Moraigh (near
the sea).
In the twelfth century the system was modified and
the righ was no longer held by the heads of the Tuath and
Mortuath. but at the head of the former was the toiseeach
(the beginning or front one) and of the Mortuath, the
mormaer (the great mayor or major, the sea-ruler, or great
steward).” It is possible that these designations were
picked up from the Picts, but it is more likely they were

names visited upon the Scots by their Irish enemies. If this
is so, it is likely that sea-faring Scots numbered survivors
from the old Fomorian sea-kingdoms in the west. It is
almost a homely to say that pre-Roman Britain was
inhabited by a people “who were mainly Celtic and that the
Celts reached this country in three principal waves of
immigration. One wave came to the east coast by way of
the North Sea, another by way of the Gaul to the South of
England, and the third from the Continent by way of
Irealand.” This is the view of most historians, although
there is no written magic to back up the idea that all the
peoples of the islands arrived from the east. In the black
well of times long past historians are as much adrift as
mythologists, and many of these have a contrary opinion.
These is the problem of Irish Gaelic, which is still
considered the most antique of all the Celtic tongues.
Aryan scholars say that the Indo-European tongues started
in northern India and spread slowly from there westward.
Professor Schleider (1874) that this Celtic tongue has the
appearance of a separation from the supposed root
(Sanskrit) at a later date than the Cymric and Brythonic
tongues, but they are supposedly of more recent evolution.
Worse still, Gaelic has the look of being more closely allied
with Latin than any of the supposed Indo-European
affiliates. These idiosyncracies suggest that Gaelic might
have spread from Ireland to the east, where it collided
with, and became associates of the west-bound language
which is now preserved in English, German and the
Scandinavian tongues.
We are then left with the question of where the Gaelic
vocabulary originated and are led back to the fact that the
Celto-Iberian tongues have “more analogies with American
types than with any other.” In his book, On the Phenomena
of Hybridity in the Genus Homo,, Paul Broca (1869) said that
“Of all Europeans, we must provisionally hold the Basques
to be the oldest inhabitants of our quarter of the world.” He
said that their language, the Euscara, “has some common
traits with the Magyr (Hungary), Osmanli, and other dialects

of the Altai family, as for instance, with the Finnic, on the
old continent, as well as the Algonquin-Lenape languages
and others in America.”
Gaelic has been given similar attachments both from
a shared vocabulary with the Algonquin languages and with
parallels in the myths of the two people. Folklorist Mary L.
Fraser has examined some of these correspondences and
concludes that, “The closeness of the (mythic) parallels
show that the Indians and the Celts in the far distant past
were in direct communications with one another, or were in
touch with the same source of inspiration. According to
Indian tradition, the white man came from the East, and the
Indians from the West, yet there must have been a (very
early) common meeting-ground somewhere, sometime.
“There are few remains of the Gaulish or Continental
branch of the Celtic vocabulary and grammar, what words
there are being place-names or inscriptions on tombs. The
tongues of the (British) islands were two: Gaelic and
Brythonic. The Britons have their name from the Cruithe ,
who the Romans called the Picts. Gaelic itself has three
dialects: the Irish tongue, the Erse (spoken in Scotland) and
Manx which is considered a degenerate, more modern form,
of early Irish. The Breton tongue is sub-divided into the
Welsh of Wales and that of Cornwall, the latter being
practically extinct. The Bas-Breton is closely akin, being
the speech of tribes who migrated from southern England at
the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions. They settled that
part of France anciently called Armoricia, and now Brittany,
the latter in view of the fact that the ancient language of
the Breatanns is still in use there. It is usually assumed
that Irish and Scottish Gaelic represent an older form than
Welsh, and that all three are more antique than any of the
British tongues.
If folklore is believed the “goat-men” arrived in
Britain, forced the aboriginals into the north and west, and
were similarly treated by successive waves of their
continental kindred, who also arrived without invitation.

The Indo-Europeans, including the Brythonic speakers, had
no difficulty handling the pronunciation of words
incorporating the letter “p” but the early Celts had a
peculiar inability to deal with the letter. As a result they
often dropped it from the beginning of words. An example
would be the old Indo-European pare, the Latin par, meaning
“by.” The Celts interpreted this as are, and we see it thus
in Are-moricia, the Amoricians, those who lived “by the
sea; Are-dunum, Ardun,those who lived “by the
fortress,”and similar place-names. When the letter was not
entirely neglected it was changed to indicate a slightly
different sound. Usually the replacement letter was a “c,
k,” or “g.” In the sixth century, the continental or Brythonic
speakers regained the use of this lost sound, and in some
cases replaced the hard sounds of these letters with the
softer “p.” Thus the original name for old England was
Cruithne, the land of “pictured (or tattooed) men among the
early Irish. Their Brythonic compatriots, the Cymri, better
known as the Welsh of Wales, understood the beginning
letter as a “p” and thus referred to the eastern lands as
Prydain. The Romans restructured this word as Brittan. An
often used example of the difference between “q”-speakers
and “p”-speakers is found in the Celtic equivalents of the
English word “son.” The Gaels represent this as mac, the
Welsh as map. There is obviously no prejudice against the
continental “p” in the Welsh version, but they found it
impossible to voice the “m” in this particular word, and
dropped it creating ap as their version. Eventually even the
“a” was seen as redundant and was eliminated. This
explains the evolution of many Welsh family names, for
example ap Rhys, which was ultimately converted to Price;
ap Howell, which was contracted to Powell, and ap Ownen,
which became Powning. The difference between the Gaelic
mhic and mhac are those of a plural as against a singular
form. It is noteworthy that early Irish insisted on
destroying the letter “p” even in historic times: Adopting
the Latin Pasch, a name for Easter, they changed it to Casg.
Similarly purpur, a word meaning purple, became corcair.
"The Gaelic," remarked Arland Ussher, "is a language

of prodigious diversity of sound and expressiveness of
phrase...It has about twice the number of sounds that other
European languages can boast..."1 Another Celt, agreed that
Gaelic has spellings which are highly poetical, but labels
this diversity as "a learner's labyrinth".2 The trouble comes
from the fact that the Gaels were a verbal rather than a
literate people. The magical binding of words to paper,
from which they might be reincarnated, was never a part of
the ancient Gaelic crafts. When their words were finally
set to paper, they reflected many pronounciations, and the
Gaels had no writers of the status of Chaucer and
Shakespeare, whose work might serve as a standard. As a
result, "English renderings of ancient Irish names,
naturally, vary considerably, and of course there is no
"official" or "correct" spelling of any of them."3 One
example: In ancient Irish Gaelic what we refer to as the
leprachaun was entitled the lubarkin. In Ulster this sidhman
was the lucharman; in Cork, the claurican; in Kerry, the
luricaun; and in Tipperary, the lurigaudaun.
GAINSIG, GAINISG, GAINNISG. GAINISGEAG, sedge, also a
minor divinity of marsh and sedge-lands; a banshee, "always
moaning for deaths to come." The plant used to create the
smudge for the Quarter-Day fires. Literally an “elf-arrow.”
“Thus, when Donald Gorm awaited death by hanging at Creag
Asduinn in North Uist, he was observed in obsessive predawn
conversation with his gainnisg. No man could hear all
of what passed between the condemned and his invisible
partner, but the man was heard to say "Little do I envy the
red-headed one and the couple." At daylight he was hanged,
but before dusk, his hangman, a red-haired individual, was
found drowned near rocks known as “The Couple.” See
following entry.
1Padraic Colum, A Treasury of Irish Folklore, preface, xiv.
2Mikael Madeg, "Celtic Spellings", For A Celtic Future, p. 114.
3Padraic Colum, A Treasury of Irish Folklore, p. 52.

GAINNE-SITH, GAINSIG, an elf-arrow or dart. “It was
claimed that the sigh carried "quivers of "adder-slough"
(snake casting) and bows made of the ribs of a man buried
where three laird's lands meet; their arrows are made of
bog reed, tipped with white flints and dipped in the dew of
hemlock (which was poisonous)...With their arrows they
shoot the cattle of those who offend them; the wound is
invisible to common eyes, but there are gifted personages
who can discern and cure it." (Gnomes Fairies Elves and
Other Little People, pp. 351-352). These elf-arrows
actually exist as triangular bits of flint, supposedly the
heads of arrows used by the Neolithic men of Britain.
Though more plentiful in Scotland, they are also found in
England and Ireland, and in those places are associated with
the "fairies." The wounds they make are said invisible to
the ordinary physician but dangerous in the extreme. In the
early Anglo-Saxon epics, they are referred to alternately as
the "arrows of the elfs” or "arrows of the gods," suggesting
that earlier men made few distinctions between these two
species of creature from the Unseen World.
GAIRM-OLC, gairm, call; Bry. garm, a shout; olc, bad, one
bringing on the wrath of a vengeful spirit. It was a tenet of
Gaelic wisdom that the name of an individual was
intimately associated with his spirit, thus a god could be
called at the mere mention of his name. Similarly, it was
tabooed to mention the names of certain things that
happened to be associated with questionable spirits. It was
also bad form to give one's own name to a stranger, or
mention the names of certain animals after dark for fear
that the spirit of that person or animal might fall under the
sway of some dark lord. When a Hebridean drover noticed
that the local priest was pasturing sheep on a field known
to be "bad for cattle" he had to approach the subject
obliquely, thus: "It's telling this matter to the stones I am
and not to you, father..." It was supposed that the evil spirit
of this patch of land would not be indifferent to any
mention of his doings. The speaker did not wish to
inadvertently injure the priest or his flock of animals, thus
this address, which was intended to mislead this "devil of

the land."
Neither will the Gaels speak openly of the "kiln-fire"
but address it euphemistically as "aingeal" or "light" of the
kiln. The first metal-smelting kilns were known to be the
workings of master-magicians, such as the goddess Brigit
and it was not considered rational to draw supernatural
attention by mentioning her business activities. There is a
proverb: "Ill will come if mentioned."
The same holds for the matter of speaking of
"bathadh" or drowning, which is termed "the clean death",
"spoiling" or "destroying" for fear of drawing a similar fate
through the unwise use of language. The Devil is never
given any real title, or named as a pagan god. He is always
"the great fellow," "the black one, "the nameless creature,"
"the brindled one," or "the evil one." Freer tells of a priest
who gave an evening hymn to an elder, one in which the word
"diabhol" (devil) was actually spelled out. He took each copy
and carefully annotated the text, inserting a euphemism
where required. The man afterwards explained that the
deletions were necessary because he could not go to bed
with such a word in memory. Hell was, necessarily, "the hot
place," "the cold place," "the bad place," or even "the good
place," in the same way that the sigh are "the good folk;" all
classic cases of whistling in the dark.
It was never suggested that a cow or horse had died,
the proper form being, "it was lost." In asking a question it
was always thought prudent to preface the question with,
"It is not for myself I am asking this..." If an evil presence
happened to be interested in the news it was hoped that the
attention of this spirit would be directed elsewhere.
GAIS, a lance, a wisp of straw, wisdom, plenty, a torrent,
craft, cunning, to shrivel, blast, corrupt, spear, weapon.
See gaisde. In some places it was claimed that the fay rode
the night winds on wisps of straw.
GAISE, a daunting, withering, flaw, blemish, injury,

lasting, a qualm, cf. gais, shrived. See above and below.
Gaist, ensnare, deceive, trick. See gaisde.
GAISGEACH NA SGEITHE DEIRGE, “The Knight of the Red
Shield,” a character in Walter Scot’s Gaelic folklore. In
this tale a local king was hunting with his retinue and chose
to rest on a grave-mound. While he was there a head
encircled by fire approached him. A second head also
approached, singing as it came. Out of fear, or some other
emotion, the ard-righ arose and struck the singing-head in
the mouth. This dislodged a tooth and gold and silver
showered from the mouth. This supernatural returned to
this spot for three consecutive years before finally
retreating to the Otherworld. See ceann, for related matter
concerning disembodied heads.
GAISDE, a magical trap, a trap, gaiste, ensnare, gin, wisp of
hay or straw, wile, a cunning trick; OIr. goiste, a noose,
from gaoisd, horse-hair. "The horsehair charm or countercharm;"
a wisp of straw used in magic and counter-magic.
The hair from a black stallion’s tail was commonly used as
a token in Atlantic Canada during the last century. Those
who sought the remedy were advised to tie the hair in a
pocket of black silk and wear this about the neck. A
resident at Norton, New Brunswick (prior to 1923) has said
that hair from a cow’s tail has no virtue, “I had to get a
black stallion’s hair and I’ve never had a sore throat in all
these seven years, except once about two months ago when I
mislaid my cord. My throat got sore but I found the cord
soon after and now I am well again (Highways & Byways, p.
5).
GAL. obs., valour, smoke, vapour, gale, puff, blast of flame,
burning straw, kindred, warfare, slaughter, Cy. galla, Bry.
galloet, Cor. gallos, might. From this the national name
Galatae, a Galatian as well as Gallus, a Gaul. See gall, a
stranger. Note the current secondary meaning, “weeping,”
Indo-European root, gel, pain, suggesting unhappy relations
between Celts. But notice that galan indicates a good or
brave girl. Galli was a name which the Romans applied

generally to the Celts. See next.
GALAD, womanish, homosexual, an expression of pity: “Poor
girl!””
GALAR BAN-SITH. galar, disease, distemper, malady, Illness
of the sidh-women. Sickness in men and animals generated
bt the magic of the side-hill folk.
GALAR NOITID, obs.. pregnancy. Hinging on an old, an invalid
idea, that such “diseases” were caused by spiritual
possession.
GALATAE, from gal, valourous. Eng. Galatian, a Gaelic throne
name, also rendered in the lowland dialect as Galashan,
Goloshan, Gallashen, Galashun, and occasionally as
Galgacus. The leader of gighise, mummers, or disguisers, at
the time of Samhain, or Hogmanay.
This semi-legendary hero is supposed to have routed a
"superior" Roman army sent into the northlands to subdue
him. The root-word is gal, valour, war; Cor. gallos, might;
from the same source, Gallus, a Gaul (the Celts of France
and parts of England). Noteworthy is gall, a lowlander, a
stranger (see separate entry), the Gauls being the first
foreigners to visit the Gaels. The root may be ghas, a guest,
similar to the Latin hos-tis, a guest, and thus Gallus.
Galatae may have been a visiting god-hero. In any instance,
he represents the sun, summer, and all things of worth.
His antagonist in the medieval playlets was often "the
admiral of the hairy caps." Clearly, this was an annual
rerun of the god Lugh's fight against Cromm the Crooked and
his Fomorian shape-changers, the latter representing
darkness, winter, plague, blight and generally disagreeable
things. "To the primitive mind it seems that you can make a
thing happen by acting out the deed itself. If you wish to
destroy your enemy, you melt a wax image of him; if you
want rain, you splash water about; if you want your crops to
grow tall, you perform a dance where you leap high in the

air. When the dark barren days of winter come and you want
to bring back the sun and fruitful fields, you enact the birth
of the new year by killing and then restoring life to an actor
who represents life itself. And every "guisers play consists
of three parts that symbolize the death of the old year and
the birth of the new one - a fight, the death of the hero and
his restoration to life."
It has been guessed that the first guiser-plays were
instituted at the Samhain, but the lowland Scots tend to
follow the notice that "What is played at Yule is also useful
at Pasch (Easter)." In Galloway the guisers are known as
the Yule boys and their appearance is at Christmas
Elsewhere the Hogmanay has been shifted to New Year's Eve
or New Year's Day. Wherever they went people tended to be
impressed by their ghost-like appearance: "The Gysarts
always dress themselves in white. They appear like so
many dead persons robed in their shrouds, who have risen
from their narrow homes, and the simile is improved
because their faces are all painted black or dark blue. Their
mutches (moustaches) are sometimes adorned with ribbons
of diverse colours, but these seldom enter into their dress."
In addition these "first-footers" wore Klu Klux Klan-like
"casques of brown paper, shaped like a mitre" on their
heads, and wore masks to hide their identity. They were
led by King Golashan whose costume was suitable to the
role. His immediate followers were appropriately attired
as "the admiral of Saint George of England," the Black
Knight, the Farmer's Son, the Doctor, and a devil-beast,
dressed as a baobh. This pack made its rounds of the homes
singing doggerel verse in an expressionless monologue (to
further disguise their identities). At the door, the
traditional entrance was begged:
Rise up guidewife, and shak your feathers,
Dinna think that we are beggars;
We're only bairns got up to play.
Rise up and gie's oor Hogmanay.
After an introduction of the characters, the Gaelic king and

his English cousin pair off immediately in a duel, fighting
with wooden staffs until Golashans falls "dead" on the floor.
The Black Knight is accused of the crime, but being a "true
Sassunaich" insists:
Oh no, it was not I sir, I'm innocent of the crime,
Twas indeed the lad behind me that drew his
sword so fine.
Suspicion centres for a moment on the Farmer's Son, but at
last, a doctor is called in, who resurrects the hero,
thereafter referred to as "Jack", the English equivalent of
the god Eochaid, the Horseman of Heaven. The company
concludes the play by chanting:
Now we will all be brethern, and ne'er fight no
more,
But we will march together, as we have done
before.
We thank the mistress of this house, likewise
the master too,
As well, the little bairns that round the table
grew.
This done, the Nathair, sometimes entitled “Beelzebub” or
“Judas,” plays his brief role, menacing the onlookers and
singing:
tongue.
Here come I, old Beelzebub,
And o'er my shoulder I carry a club,
And in my hand a dripping pan.
I fancy myself a right jolly ol' man.
I have a little box that can speak without a
If you have any coppers, then drop in one.
An observer wrote: "The common reward of the
entertainment is a halfpenny; but many persons fall upon
the unfortunate guizards and beat them out of the house."

Nevertheless, this oft' repeated play was a sufficiently
welcome diversion for most people to come through with
payment in cash or kind. When the men of the village
abandoned this high ritual it was taken over by boys, who
used the money to buy materials for the Samhain bonfire. It
has been suggested that Biggar, Scotland, was the last
village to pay attention to these rites. The bonfire in the
middle of the burgh’s main street was put out by Hitler's
blitz. After the war several attempts were made to revive
poor dead Golashan but by then television had supplanted it
as New Year's Eve entertainment. Theatre workshops
revived the essence of the play, but it had less impact in
the month of April (which they have chosen for it) and less
suspense in the hands of children.
GALC, the fulling of cloth, from the English wauk, waulk or
walk. In Atlantic Canada, the cloth used to be milled using
an "ancient formula:" "Three consecrators placed the web of
cloth on the milling table. Then the eldest revolved it once
in a sunwise direction (counterclockwise in pagan times)
saying,
I make a sunwise turn
in the service of the Father.
Then the second eldest (repeated the action), saying,
I make a sunwise turn
In the service of the Son.
And the youngest followed, saying,
I make a sunwise turn
In the service of the Spirit.
Then the three together said:
And each sunwise turn
In the service of the Trinity,
And each rotation made on it

For the sake of the Trinity.
And each sunwise turn
In the service of the Trinity.
GALIAN, GÁLIOIN, ometimes Fir Gálioin, one of the three
sub-tribes of the Firbolgs. Also one of the ancient names
for the province of Leinster. Galida, strange, foreign, See
Laighin.
GALL, place-name, lowlander, any stranger to the highlands
of Scotland. An Englishman. EIr. gall, a foreigner, from
Galluis, a Gaul, the first outlanders to visit or be visited by
the Irish in pre-Roman times. Gal, valour. Similar to Cy,
gal, an enemy. May relate to AS. gast, spirited, and the
English word ghastly or ghostly, the Lat. hostis, a guest or
hostage, a lowlander, a stranger, from Gallus, the Celticspeaking
Gauls (of France) the first to visit the Gaels in
pre-Roman times. See Galatae. Later an Alban, a Norse
visitor, an Anglo-Norman, and finally an Englishman. Note
galloglaigh, babbling stranger, which the Irish used to label
the Gaels who had emigrated to Alba and returned as
mercenary soldiers in the fourteenth century. Identified in
English as the gallowglasses, the clans involved included:
MacCable, MacSweeney, MacShechy, MacSorely, MacDonald,

MacNeill and the MacAllen. See above entries.
GALLAN, a youth, standing stones, the artifacts which
archaeologists have named monoliths or menhirs,. from gall,
a lowlander or stranger. Alternately dallán. In former
times circles of stone were referred to as the crommliagáe,
or “cromlechs,” indicating they were dedicated to the dark
lord Cromm or “Crumb.” O’Riordain says these structures
are not easily placed in time: “The span of dating evidence
- from Bronze Age burials to Early Christian inscriptions -
shows that the standing stones of Ireland cannot be
ascribed to any one period...”
GAMHAINN, a year-old calf, a stirk. Ir. gamhuin, EIr. gamuin,
from gam, winter, "one winter old. Since the Gaelic year
commenced with Samhain it was said: "On Samhuinn eve all
calves become stirks." The male lord of the Samhain often
dressed in the gamhainn skin as an expression of his
regenerate virility and capacity to impregnate the Samh,
the inviolate earth-moon-goddess.
GAMHANRHIDE, GAMANRAD, see above, + riadh, a snare. The
Connacht military elite, their equivalent of the Ulster Red
Branch. These were the “stirk-folk,” whose connection with
the “side-hill folk” was very close. The wondrous, evergiving,
cow of the sidh was their tribal divinity.
GAMHLAS, malice, from gann, scarce. See gamhainn.
GAN CEANN, gan, pursuing them + cean, genius. A spirit
from the sidh which filled young girl’s heads with sexual
and other fantasies, preventing them from accomplishing
any work. See next.
GANCOMER. The amorous but invisible Tuathan who spent his
days making love to shepherdesses and milkmaids. Gangaid,
a deceit, craft, falsehood, light-headed female, naughty
female, mean. Note above entry.
GAOID, a blemish, the only disqualification for kingship.

Also stain, disease, flaw,, especially in cattle, rarely,
flatulence, wind, from EIr. góet, a stain, a wound. In the
Gaelic kingdoms any physical blemish indicated a man out of
favour with the gods and one banished from kingship. The
Tuathan king Nuada of the Silver Hand was named from the
loss of his right-hand in battle against the Firbolgs.
Proscribed from kingship he was briefly supplanted by the
parsimonious Breas, but regained the crown when his
"leech" managed to grow a replacement from the stump.
GAOIDHAL GLAS, the name of the mythical patriarch of the
Scots race gaoil, family, kindred, violent anger; the
language formerly used in the highlands of Scotland. G.
gaidhlig, gaidheal, Ir. gaoidhilig, gaedhilig, EIr. goedel (1100
AD), Cy. gwyddel, formerly applied to an ancient inhabitant
of Ireland. Root: ghad. similar to the German gut and the
English good and god. Perhaps relating to the Latin hoedus,
goat-men. According to Seumas MacManus, the first Gael
was Gaoidhal Glas who came out of Scythia to live in Egypt.
His grandson Niul (Nile or Neal) married a daughter of the
Pharaoh, whose name was Scota. Niul and his descendants
grew rich and powerful, but the clan was not well-liked by
latter-day kings of that realm. As a result, they had to flee
through North Africa to Spain, where their leader was Mil.
It was the sons of Mil, termed Milesians, who invaded
Ireland and established a kingdom at Tara. In the latter
days they were forced from Lat. Scotia Major (Ireland) by
southern Irish tribesmen. Their final place was the land
that the Romans entitled Scotia Minor, which is now
Scotland. Most anthropologists think that the Celts came to
Ireland from England by way of Gaul but take note of the
fact that the Gaels had trade connections with the old
Celto-Iberian kingdom of Tartesssos is southern Spain,
immediately north west of Gibraltar. See boc.
GAOISTEAN, a crafty fellow, gaois. obs. Wisdom, prudence,
discretion, science, cf. gaisde, a trap.
GAOITHEAN, a fop, an empty-headed chap, from gaoth, wind.
Gaoithreag, a blast, a whirlwind.

GAOL, love, fondness, a beloved, a lover, Ir. gaol, kin,
family, EIr. gael, a relationship, Germ. geil, wanton. See
Gaifhheal, a Gael, an inhabitant of the Scottish highlands.
Supposedly based on the name of their ultimate patriarch.
GAOTH, shooting pain, a stitch, vanity, flatulence, from gai,
also seen as vei, same as ON. ve, the wind. Related are the
Gaelic gaibheach, stormy, blustering; gailbhinn, a storm at
sea, a storm of snow; gaile, excitement; gaillionn, a windstorm,
the Scand. galen, the English gale and ghost.
The elemental gods of Scandinavia were sometimes
given as Lokki (fire); Vili (water) and Ve (wind). The latter
two are represented in Teutonic myth as Hler and Kari. The
Gaelic fire-god was Lugh, their sea-god Ler and the windgod
Meirneal, who the English called Merlin. Hence
gaoistean, an crafty fellow, a “trapper,” and gaoisthean, a
fop, a wind-head. The family name Vey is from this root. It
has been suggested that under the will of the creator-god
they co-operated in the creation of man; the wind-god
gifting humans with motion and the six senses. In later
Norse mythology Odin is often substituted for Ve as Lord of
the Northern Mountains.
It has been claimed that the brothers, Vili and Ve,
annually usurped the power of Odin, taking his throne and
raping his wife Frigga. Each May, Odin was said to return
from his winter journeys and leadership of the Asgarderia,
or Host of Soul-Catchers. Finding his realm reduced to
unhappiness, he always drove off his brothers. Thus, the
wind is a male personification of the Cailleach bheurr,
similarly driven into exile at the end of winter. The
Samhain, or May Day festivities, were partly a celebration
of the failure of the winter-spirit. In Scandinavia, until
very recent times, the May Ride was celebrated on the first
day of this month. In it a flower-bedecked human
representative of King Odin was required to drive off a furenveloped
figure representing King Uller (Winter) by pelting
him with fresh blossomed flowers. In England this day is

celebrated in a similar way, the Woden-figure being termed
Jack-In-The-Green, or something of that ilk.
Note the following:
Wind from the west, fish and bread;
Wind from the North, cod and flaying;
Wind from the East, snow on the hills;
Wind from the South, fruit on trees.
The wind was formerly considered animate, and with good
reason: "Every high wind, in many Places of the Highlands,
is a Whirlwind. The agitated Air, pouring into the narrow
and high Spaces between the Mountains, being confined in
its Course...I say, the Air, in that violent Motion, is there
continually repelled by the opposite Hill, and rebounded
from others, till it finds a Passage, insomuch that I have
seen in the Western Highlands, some scattering of Oaks,
with their Bark twisted almost as if it had been done with a
lever." (Letters From The North of Scotland, pp. 79-80).
Wind and rain may be knocked from a rag and that the
former can be bound in knots. The southern wind was
mythologically associated with Loki and the north wind at
first with Thor and later with Odin. The latter rode the
Wild Hunt southward on this wind in his search for souls.
The wind of winter was as much feared in Britain where the
Cailleach Bheur and Herla the Huntsman rode against
mankind. The Celts were always circumspect with the wind
believing that the sidh travelled in whirlwinds, and
adressing any passing gust of wind with words such as,
"May God speed you, gentlemen." The idea that the wind
represented a god-demon was as widespread as the belief
that the sun and the moon were gods. Those not content
with avoiding the notice of the wind sometimes warred
against it and it Eastern Africa it was once said that "no
whirlwind ever sweeps across the path without being
pursued by a dozen savages with drawn creeses, who stab
into the centre of the dusty column in order to drive away
the evil spirit that is believed to be hiding on the blast."

Witches were sometimes considered a variety of
demon
and it was generally known that they created wind to
damage their enemies and to transport themselves from
place to place. The wind was ,laterally, considered an
inferior spirit, more easily intimidated, killed or driven
away than sun and rain gods.
The relationship of the witch to her wind-demon, who
the German settlers called the geisboch (he-goat) is
revealled in a tale from Lunenburg County which was
collected by Dr. Creighton: "Every night after tea a woman
used to take a broomstick and put it between her legs and go
to the chimney and then she'd go up the chimney. She'd say
words, "no straffe he, no straffe go..." A servant in the
house, observing this decided to try the magic brromstick
after hours. On a subsequent night he followed the
procedure and found himself above the chimney in the night
air. Knowing something of the usual procedure, he utter an
incantation for the geisboch and it arrived and took him on
his back. Unfortunately, his education was incomplete and
he didn't know how to control this "devil", which took him
out over the Atlantic Ocean and dumped him.
Flying through the air classifies as wonder-work
rather than sympathetic magic or divination. Traditionally,
most of the northern gods could shape-change into eagles,
crows or ravens and take flight. The god Odin flew aboard a
magical stallion and his Valkyries followed on similar
steeds. The fairies always flew from place to place and so
did the baobhs, the druids, witches and Christian angels.
Some of my ancestors probably believed that David
Rae's wife, a resident of Tullibody, Scotland was spirited
into the air by fairies. Twenty years after, there were
Scots who attested to seeing her "sitting on a dark cloud
drifting over a peak of Dumyat." She was supposedly
abducted after "straying from her ain man's side."

Equally traditional was the tale of the herdsman's son
who supposedly lived at Waweig, N.B. He had a double part
in his hair and was able to "see the wind and fairies". More
significantly he once found himself lost in the woods after
dark, and like Hansel and Gretel sought refuge with three
elderly women in their small cottage. They agreed to having
him as a guest provided that he stayed in the back room and
minded his business. That night he went quickly to sleep
but was awakened by the sound of activity in the kitchen.
"Nae, he's asleep", responded one woman to the question of
another, at which the boy put on a commendible act of
snoring. Creeping to the closed door, he crept to the crack
and watched as the naked women lathered themselves with
"grease" from a bottle. Having done this they chanted "Fly
away, Here go you and I, I and you, here go we!" Suddenly
they vanished from sight.
Mystified by this, the lad crept out into the larger
room, greased himself and repeated what he had heard.
Instantly he found himself sitting on the roof of the cottage
side by side with the three witches. They argued what
should be done with him, but finally supplied him with a red
cap, which was their only wearing apparel. This gave them
control over the wind demons and without benefit of
broomstick they were able to fly to the nearby town of
Saint Andrews. Here they squeezed through the keyhole of
the Beacon Press and amused themselves by scattering the
type and ink. After that they invaded a general store,
dropped bugs into the flour barrells, pulled the plug on the
molasses and kerosene puncheons, and snatched the red cap
from their flight companion. The next morning this
unfortunate was left with explaining the damage and how he
happened to stand naked within a locked mercantile store.
Flying seems a magical act, but few witches claimed
to have been carried through the air as directly as those
mentioned above. More often, they said that they "rode the
air" on a forked stick, a staff or a broomstick. Examined in
context confessions of flying often indicated swift,
effortless movement as opposed to actual flight. Thus

Isabel Gowdie said, quite plainly, "I had a little horse, and
would say, :Horse and Hattock, in the Divellis name!" And
then he would fly away, where he would even as straws fly
upon the high-way." Witches lacked wings, and so did
honest fairies until co-opted by the tale- writers.
J.F. Campbell, researching Popular Tales of the West
Highlands, lived for a time with the Lapps. He thought that
their manners and customs were similar to those ascribed
to elves. He located a northern dwelling, "round, about
twelve feet in diameter, and sunk three feet in the ground,
the roof made of sticks and covered with turf", which he
thought answered the description of a fairy, elf, or sidh hill.
He noted that this "hollow-hill" looked like a conical green
mound. At home in Scotland he found a very similar
abandoned dwelling in the sand dunes at South Uist. This
made him suspect that the fay-people must have had human
counterparts. He was particularly struck by the fact that
the average Lapp, "even wearing a high peaked hat", fit
neatly beneath his armpit. Most significantly he said that
they moved from place to place using long birch vaulting
poles.
The tradition that witches flew probably has
something like this at its base. It is noteworthy that
witches usually departed their hovels through the chimney,
like the wind-god Odin and Father Christmas, who can be
traced to him. Exiting through a modern chimney would be a
considerable feat, but house construction has changed since
the days of weems, or sod huts. The souterrains of the
Gaels in Ireland and Scotland were beehive shaped chambers
made of rock covered with earth. Many of them incorporated
long underground entryways protected by traps or
obstructions. Almost all had secondary exits for an
emergency, but there must have been cases where residents
"magically" vanished up the hearth-chimney. Surprisingly,
local "Scots" still claim that if you enter by one door and
leave by another
strangers will come to visit and bad luck will follow.

If it is assumed that witches and fairies took their
common characteristics from a prehistoric race who lived
beneath ground, then their sudden exits in the face of an
enemy might have been misconstrued as "flying". Again,
this may have resulted from an altered state, for the
witches who flew always anointed themselves with a
"Flying Ointment". One recipe required "the fat of yoong
children" seethed "in a brasen vessell". Almost incidentally
the recorder noted that aconite, and one or two herbs should
be blended in. No known chemical can countermand the law
of gravity, and fat from any source has no effect when
rubbed on the skin. Aconite, commonly called monkshood,
yields a white crystalline alkaloid from its leaves and
roots, a chemical described as a respiratory and cardiac
sedative." In high concentrations it is a lethal poison when
introduced into the human circulatory system. At least, it
produces an irregular heartbeat and even small doses bring
on dizziness and a sense of falling or treading water. Other
recipes incoroprate belladonna, which derives from the
plant called deadly nightshade. "Persil" recommended by
some "pharmacists" was deadly hemlock. These drugs are as
bad as they sound, small amounts being capable of producing
excitment and delerium. Rubbing such mixtures on the skin
was an inefficient way of getting it into the blood, but
much more plausible in other times, when people were
manual labourers and vermin infested, and had a body
surface peppered with scratches and bites.
The Flying Ointment may explain why some witches
said that only their astral bodies went to sabats, while
their physical body remained at home in bed. This is alos
consistent with fairy-lore. When a fairy-rade carried off
Orfeo's queen to their land, they left her mortal body
swooning under a tree.
Witches did not have to leave their bodies recumbent
when they "flew away" but a woman who visited with a
witch several times each week noted that her friend was
often present in body while "her soul would be wandering".

On one of these ocassions, while the witch was waiting for
her husband to return she went to the stove to stoke the
fire. Suddenly she gasped, "I've got an awful pain in my
side." Half an hour later her husband arrived to say he had
seen her figure on the road and had accidently driven his
wagon over her. This had happened, they decided, at the
exact time when she had first noticed the stitch in her side.
The ingredients listed above are not as esoteric as one
might think. Monkshood and deadly nightshade continue to
grow on our premises at Sussex, and we did not plant them.
It is fairly likely that hallucinatory combinations of drugs
caused witches to remember episodes with vaulting poles
or hobby-horse brooms as actual incidents of flight.
Alchemy was a branch of wonder-working where the
amount used often determined whether one got prophylactic
or killing effect. Belladonna was not usually recommended
by apothecaries, but they did prescribe it to inhibit the
muscular contractions of the womb where there was
possible miscarriage during pregnancy.
GARACH CATH. The final battle of the Tain war, the armies
of Mebd and Ailill faced off with those of Conchobhar mac
Nessa on the Plain of Garach. Fergus mac Roth battling for
the former host was in sight of victory at midday when
Cuchulainn arrived at the battlefield. The Ulster hero
reminded Fergus of his oath not to oppose him in time of
war, and the southerner retired from the field. His going
caused the men of Munster and Leinster to follow and by
evening the Connaughtmen were defeated.
GARADH, GARAIDH, GARRADH, wall, dike, mound, gratuity,
the last is considered “the better spelling,” Also, a garden,
Ir. garan, Indo-European gher, scratchy, stiff, tear, cf.
garbh, rough. The worlds created by the gods were
individually referred to as gardens. The name given a giant
who lived near Ruthven, Scotland. This ill-tempered vandal
had his hair pegged to the ground by local women while he
slept. Awaking constrained, he soon broke loose and felled a

number of trees. Setting them ablaze he attacked his
tormentors. Warriors of the tribe, returning from the hunt,
discovered Garraidh’s lapse into a frenzy and tracked and
killed him at the place known as Glenn Garraidh, or
Glengarry. Since the women Garraidh had killed were those
of the Fionn he guaranteed their eventual extinction.
GARADH TOLL, den, copse, thicket, a garden, cf. Eng. yard,
ON gardr. Toll, the Eng. hole, ON hol, AS howe (pronounced
garah howl). The place of a dolmen-like holed-rock near
Dingwall, Scotland. Here divination rites were performed
and children taken to be cured of ailments. “A fire was lit;
the ailing child was stripped and passed through the hole.”
Additionally the mother baked bannock and left this offering
on the top of the rock. If it was gone in the morning this
was taken as a sign that the child might recover.
GARRACH, glutton, The Battle of Garrach. See entry
immediately below, The final event in the Táin war, when
the forces of Queen Mebd met those of Conchobhar on the
Plain of Garrach. Fergus mac Roth, of the south, was in
command of the situation when Cúchullain arrived at midday.
Cúchullain reminded Ferghas of an oath that both had
taken never to fight against each other. As a result Ferghas
and his followers left the field, and the men of Munster and
Leinster followed him. By evening the Ulster army had
decimated what remained of the armies of Connacht. In
chasing them from the field Cúchullain cornered Mebd ,
sheltering in her overturned chariot. A geis prevented him
from killing women so she was allowed safe conduct to her
own lines.
GARRAG, a young crow, garr, a gorbelly, starveling, a
spoiled child, glutton, wretch, worthless creature, cf with
the English, gorby and gore. Eng. gorecrow. A borrowed
word. In North America the dialectic form is corby; similar
to the French corbeaux. Cf. G. garrach, Throughout Europe
the members of the crow family were considered
sacrosanct since they were the preferred familiars of
witches and some of the old pagan deities. The crows were

totem animals of all the Gaelic Fomors or sea-giants and
their relations, especially the Tuathan-Milesians god known
as the Dagda and his daughter/sister/spouse, Mhorrigan, the
goddess of fate. Folklorist
Edward D. Ives had no difficulty assembling more than
a hundred versions of northeastern American folk tales
suggesting the disadvantages falling upon men who offended
these birds. To begin, it has to be noted that the garrag
family is more extensive in Maritime Canada and Maine than
in the Old World. Within the crow family one finds the
ravens, and the jays, the latter group being subdivided into
the Blue Jays and Canada Jays. Any one of these may be
entitled a "corby" or "gorby," but the Canada Jay has a vast
number of nicknames. We have seen him referred to as the
moose bird, the meat-bird, the grease-bird, the greaser, the
whisky-jack, the jack-whisky, the whisky john, the john
whisky, Hudson's Bay bird, caribou bird, venison hawk, grey
jay, woodsman's friend, moosebird, and camp-robber. Most
people are fairly familiar with a crow; the raven is an
enlarged version with laryngitis. The Canada Jay has been
described as a little like a robin, but with grey feathers,
excepting a white throat and forehead and a black cap. Its
cousin, the Blue Jay is essentially a similar bird but blue in
colour. All this tribe are known for their audacity, thieving
characteristics, bottomless appetites and ability to
"supernaturally" signal, to one another, the presence of food.
It has been suggested that these are the
characteristics of lumbermen, which may account for the
superstition that the gorbys reincarnate the souls of dead
woods-workers. Those who are better informed suspect
that their bodies enclose the spirits of malevolent minor
deities or that they are simply the totem-animals of
witches. Whatever the belief, few woodsman will
knowingly injure any of these birds. "Anything that happens
to a garbie is likely to happen to you...I know a woodsman
who kicked at one which was stealing his lunch. He broke
its leg; a day after that, this same man got his foot caught
in the trace-chain of a scoot and suffered a fractured leg."

There are also records of men who baited the Canada
Jay within catching distance, often feeding him beer or
whisky. When they plucked out his wing feathers, they soon
found themselves denuded of all hair. In a one instance, a
man in Nelson, N.B., performed this cruel act and seemed to
survive without harm, but his children never developed hair
on their heads. Interestingly, there are few stories of this
sort in the old country although Professor Ives is almost
certain that the corby-stories originated in Scotland or the
English north-country travelling from there to New
Brunswick and thence to the other Maritime Provinces and
Maine. He says there are no exact parallels in the Motif-
Index for the Old World although he did find two analogies.
A resident of Canterbury, England recalled his father's story
of a sparrow which was stripped of its feathers, the
torturer suffering hair-loss. He also heard an Ayrshire
story about Quentin Young, "the man who plucked a robin"
and awoke the next morning to find hair "lying strewn about
on his pillow." (Ives, "The Man Who Plucked the Gorbey",
1961. an article reprinted in Fowkes, Folklore, pp. 174-
188)
GATH, a dart or sting, spoke of a wheel, shat, as a beam of
sunlight, EIr. gae, gai, as in gae bolg, ON. geirr, spear, AS.
gar, Eng. gar-lic, Skr. heshas, missile. Lugh used one of
these to kill Balor. Notice that all weapons were considered
extensions of their owners, spirited things capable of
independent action. The existence of fine “parade” weapons
in the graves of warriors suggests they expected to use
them in worlds beyond death.
GATH-BOLG, a fiery arrow, a common arrow shaft fitted
with a bag of combustibles.
GATH-DOINIONN, the stump of a rainbow seen at the horizon
in stormy weather. Also known as the dog’s tooth, referring
to the dogs of Cromm. These creatures are said in pursuit of
the sun which they will devour at the end of time.

GATH-DUBH, the “Storm Riders,” a beard of oats, the
foundation of a sheaf. The unsely host, the dark riders of the
Death god. These were said seen in the undulating currents
of rain gusted and scattered in the wind.
GATH-FRUIGHE, a poisoned arrow.
GATH-GEALAICH, a Moonbeam; gath-greine, a sunbeam,
Fingal’s banner; gath-linn, the Pole Star.
GATH-TETH, teth, hot, warm, sultry, impetuous, a fiery dary.
GATH-NIMH, a poisonous sting or dart, usually in the form of
a thorn. These were placed in the bedding of guests,
producing seeming death or a coma. The voodoo-like state
could only be alleviated when the thorn was removed from
the flesh. The tale is told of a jealous princess who
poisoned her brother in this manner. His faithful hunting
dogs being the only ones to understand his condition
uneathed him and one removed the thorn with his teeth. He
recovered “although he had been buried for three days.”
GEALACH, the Moon, from geal, white, EIr. gel, clear,
shining, Eng. gleam, glow, yellow. Achadh, field, an expanse.
The moon is particularly attached to the god Nuada , the
“New-One,” and he is the alter-ego of the sun-god Lugh. It
is also symbolic of the summer-goddess In the Hebrides it
is said: “There is the new moon, the king of the elements,
bless it!” Allied with Samh. Or Summer. On Pictish slatestones
at Luss, Stobo and Paisley, Scotland, we find the
curious engravings of a pair of crescent moons arranged
back to back, an ancient symbol of immortality,
representing the old moon and the first quarter of the new
moon. This pointed out the monthly death and rebirth of that
“goddess” in the sky. It is said that the druids carried on
their persons a crescent symbolic of the risen moon.
Specimens of this crescent made from gold have been found
in Ireland where they are referred to as the cornan.
GEALACH AN ABACHAIUDH, “The yellow (September) moon

which helps the corn (grains) to ripen.”
GEALACH A’BRUIC. The “badger’s moon,” the October moon,
during which the badger is said to collect and dry grass for
its nest. It is said that weather will change with the
badger’s moon.
GEALACH BHUIDHE, BUAIUN A’ CHOIRC, The yellow moon of
the oats-harvest. In Sutherland. Same as the above, an
October moon.
GEALACH UR, the New Moon. ur, fresh, new, recent, infant,
and related to Nuada, the “New One.”
GEALBHAN, a fire, little fire, fire-balls. Indo-European
ghel, glow, gleam, cf. geal, white. Generally considered
forerunners of evil.
An Edinburgh physician staying in temporary quarters
at Broadford Scotland sighted a bright light on the water
and took it to be a flare ignited by a fisherman in distress.
The light came smoothly and steadily towards him and was
seen to be a perfect globe of light, or “ball-lightning.” When
the light touched the shore, it vanished, and a woman
holding a child in her arms appeared in its place and
immediately vanished. When the doctor took this tale to the
innkeeper, the man explained that this apparition was the
backrunner of a woman and child whose bodies had been
washed ashore at exactly that place. He explained that the
ghost was often seen by others in the district and about the
time of year when the shipwreck had occurred.
A similar “fetch” is associated with Loch Rannoch;
again a ball of energy is seen skimming across the water. It
is said that the light always originates at the same place on
the loch, travels over the same route and disappears at the
same place. Infrequently the ball has been seen to roll up
the hill-side known as Meall dubh.
Loch Ness has a light known as “The Old Man of

Inverfargaig” in addition to its sea-serpent. Known to the
highlands as “The Bodach,” it is often seen in the woods and
travelling the rocky shore. During winter storms this ghost
may be heard shrieking amidst the wind. Breadalbain has
two globes of fire, both resident upon Loch Tay. One of these
appeared at Tayside as a foreunner of future events. Two
Cameron boys died on a small farm at Morenish and were
buried in the churchyard at Kenmore. When a surviving
brother arrived home from army-leave he decided they
should by exhumed and carried by water to the other end of
the loch for re-burial at Killin. On the night before this
move took place two bright balls of light were seen cruising
across the water on the course set the next day by the boat
carrying the two coffins. Again, a ferryman living on the
north side of the Tay heard a shrill whistle from the
opposite bank and supposing someone wanted passage he
rowed to the south side. On arrival he could not find anyone
but as he watched a huge ball, which he thought resembled a
sack of wool, came rolling down the hillside and toppled
itself into his boat. Too terrified to question what he was
being asked to carry, he rowed home with great haste. As
the boat touched the far side the strange cargo dissolved
into a huge white bird, which soared away and came to rest
at the burial-grounds of Lawers. Shortly after, the ferryman
found himself employed to carry the corpse of a young
woman across the water so that it could be buried at
Lawers.
GEALL. pledge, mortgage, love. Prize, reward, desire. See
next.
GEALL--CINNIDH, head-pledge. The fine paid by one guilty of
manslaughter to the relatives of the deceased. At one point
an earl was recompensed at the rate of 66 2/3 cows. An
earl’s son brought 44 cows, a thane’s son 11 cows, and so on
downward according to social rank. Fines imposed for
murder were considered as eirig.
GEALTA, a man under a geall, a pledge or proscription. Such
a person was doomed to pass a year and a day in the

isolation of the Otherworld or in a wilderness-retreat.
Those who died in battle frequently departed without
appropriate rites of passage. It was said that they assumed
bird-form and had to flit about in a pugatorial place until
the Otherworld opened its gates to them. Living cowards,
who fled from battle, were also forced to a year of madness
in a secluded glen. Gealtair, a coward, a timorous person
(with reason).
GEALTAN, the harlequin, a quarter-day fool. Gealtach,
timorous, skittish, fearful, cowardly.
GEAMAIR, gamer, game-keeper. A name sometimes visited
on the Cailleach bheurr or “Winter Hag.” geamanta, tricky,
crafty, see next two entries.
GEAMH, a pledge, compensation. See next entry. To
compensate the Cailleach for the loss of her wild animals
taken in the hunt, gamesters collected pledges which were
used to purchase criminals from the jails for “use” in the
Quarter-Day fires.
GEAMHRADH, GEAMRADH, Winter personified. gean, obs.
Woman, the Cailleach bheurr. EIr. gemred; OIr. gaimred.
From gam, chaste, cold, unproductive, the Winter Hag (or
Gamekeeper). Cy., gaem, Br. goam, Skr. hima, cold, ON hrym,
frosted, geamnaidh, chaste, virginal, cold. The word is
allied with gaoth, the wind, the root being gai, driven.
Confers with the Gaelic vei, the wind and with the Old
Norse god Ve, whose name is a synonym for wind. A common
Gaelic form of this god is Ghei which corresponds with the
English ghost. Radh, saying, speaking, bringing about.
Gamanrad, the “stirk-folk of Connaught.” Rad is a
collective, feminine when in used in the last sense. The Bry.
Stem may be giamo, winter; Lat. hiems. In the Celtic
Calendaer this was the mid-winter month of Giamonios,
twenty-nine days in length (roughly December) following
Cutios and followed by Simivionnios. Within the first
quarter of winter, the second quarter commencing with
Equos. Note the next related note.

GEANAIR, gean. obs. woman; now, good humour, love,
approbation, a smile, also, greed; air, high, lofty, most
important. Formerly, the month now called January in the
English realms. Geanamh, obs. A sword, geanas, chastity, in
a good humour, pure, winter-like, cold and distant but goodwilled.
GEANTRAIGHE, gean + treaghaid, good humour +
transpiercing (creating a stitch in the side), magical music.
The spell of music was considered a magic gifted on
individual men by the gods. The first musician was Dagda,
who possessed the Harp of the North. His talents were
bequeathed to his son Lugh. When the Dagda's wife Boann
was in labour, he used the three types of music: goltraighe
(crying music), geantrighe (laughing music) and suantrighe
(sleeping music) to give her respite. Musical spells were
used by the Dagda and his sons to subdue the Fomors when
they ravaged the Undersea World.
GERAROID IARLA, Gerald Fitzgerald. Third Earl of Desmond
(1359 -1598). This historical figure appears here due to the
myth that his father cohabited with the love-goddess Aine.
It is said Maurice Fitzgerald raped the unfortunate mortalgoddess
and that Gerald was their son. Apparently Maurice
had some desirable characteristics for at his death the
legend arose that he was not dead but sleeping and would
arise from the waters of Loch Guirr to assist Ireland in a
time of danger. Other stories insist that he arises from the
Loch every seven years, surveying his lands on a white
steed. Loch Guirr is generally stated to be the final resting
place of Aine.
GEARR, short, hare, a favoured familiar of the baobh. Also a
weir for catching fish, short, transient, laconic, deficient,
grilse. The original form was geirrfhiadh, a "short deer", the
last word is now omitted.
"When I was a child there was a superstition that one
should say the word "hares" last thing at night on the last

day of each month, and the word "rabbits" first thing the
next morning to usher in the new month. I have always
understood that this was because witches were supposed to
turn themselves into hares, so by saying these "magic"
words one got rid of all the witches at the end of the month
and ensured that during the next month all witches would
turn out to be mere rabbits." (Dr. Gertrude Cormack, Scots
Monthy, p. 550). In the ancient tale of Cian mac Maelmuaidh
we are introduced to a man who cornered a hare with his
greyhound, which as he was about to kill it, shape-changed
into a beautiful woman.
The rabbit and the hare are both of the species
Leporidae; small swift-footed mammals with gnawing
teeth. The European "rabbit" was the ancestor of modern
domesticated rabbits and the Belgian hare, both being small
timid burrowing animals. The European "hare" is of a
separate genus; it does not burrow, living instead in
thickets and in openings between rocks. Except for the
genus "Lepus timidus" it is a wide-foraging somewhat
obnoxious animal.
All animals, of this general type, are referred to as
rabbits in North America. In times past the sighting of a
hare on the back of a cow always alerted herdsmen to the
fact that witchcraft was in action. Caesar identified this
animal, the goose and the cock as the creatures having
greatest significance in Celtic cult practises. It was noted
that Queen Boudicca of the Brythonic Iceni released a hare
before setting out on any campaign of warfare. The hunter
gods of the Gaels are frequently pictured as pursuing or
holding the animal.
GEARRAN (ger-an), the gelding, from gearr, to cut, the short
month, originally four weeks starting March 15. It ended
with "Cailleach's Week", the last days given over to the
"Winter Hag." Corresponds with the old Brythonic Equos, or
“horse month.” The thirty days following the first quarter
of winter. The duration varies with the authority; some say
March 15 until, April 11, others say the entire month of

February, still others insist iit is the nine days following
faoillteach, or the last half of February. Any help?
Gearranach, horse-like or clownish, a quarter-day fool.
Gearr-sporran. A cut-purse or pick-pocket.
GEAS, GEISE (gaysh, pl. gaysha), oath, vow, metamorphic
enchantment, a bond, spell, charm. taboo, prohibition. EIr.
geis, a tabooed act, spell, taboo, charm, the root is ged, the
Eng. god, as it appears in guidh, to pray, guidhe, a prayer, a
wish, OIr. guidiu, Eng. guide. AS. biddan, the Eng. bid. Any
magical injunction the violation of which lead at least to
misfortune, at worst to death. Every Gael had geise related
to the nature of their bafinne, or “guardians,” to demands of
chivalry, or to the impositions of a powerful enemy.
Thus, Cúchullain being one of the dog-clan was
tabooed from eating the flesh of that animal. When he did
so, although inadvertently, he paid with his life. He was
first paralyzed on one side and was then murdered by a host
of enemies. Those who had ravens as their befinne had to
take care not to injure them, for the damage was reflected
on their own person. King Conory could not kill a small grey
bird because this was his totem. When he almost acted
against some of them, a flock materialized into human
warriors, who warned the hero of his geas and his danger. In
some instances the geise are the birthright of an individual,
taboos placed on him by the gods.
Diarmuid of the Love Spot had two geise: the first was
that he should not reject a lady in distress; the second that
he should never pass by night through a wicket-gate.
Grannia, the intended wife of Fionn, requested that Diarmuid
remove her from her from an unwanted impending marriage.
By the rules of the game Diarmuid could not refuse, but his
only way out of Fionn's redoubt was through a wicket-gate
travelling by night. The pair became enmeshed in a fate
that had to end tragically.
It is not clear why the gods imposed strange demands:
Conary, in addition to honouring birds was forbidden to

follow three red horsemen. Fergus mac Roy could not turn
down the invitation to any feast, and when he did the tale of
his life devolved into a tragedy for him and the sons of
Usnach. In short, these were sacred obligations. T.W.
Rolleston has suggested that these impositions were once
regarded as a means of keeping one's spirit in a "proper"
relationship with the Unseen World of the sithe. In addition
to individual taboos, there were general prohibitions that
extended to all men and women:
Miss Goodrich-Freer mentions the northern Scottish
dodging about the word uaine, or “green.” "I remember being
perplexed in my early wanderings about the Hebrides by
hearing green things being constantly spoken of as "blue"
until it suddenly dawned upon me that green must not be
mentioned, lest it should call up the fairies." (Celtic
Monthly, 1901, p. 141). It is never thought wise to call a dog
by his name after dark, because that allowed the sithe to
call him and control his spirit to the detriment of the
human owner. Numerous other prohibitions hinged on the
idea that one should never speak of any devil for fear he
might be drawn by the mention of his name.
The most wide-ranging curse (possibly still in operation)
was that of the goddess Macha. Her tale, told in Tain Bo
Cuailnge, pictured her reborn
as a dark-haired beauty who appeared mysteriously on the
doorstep of the widower named Crunniac MacAgnmain. He
welcomed her into his Ulster home, and found her a
consummate lover and wife, who supplied him with magical
food and clothing as well as heirs. He began to suspect she
was a deity when he observed her successfully racing
against wild deer. While she placed him under a "geis" not
to reveal her special skill, he got drunk and accepted a
wager to race her against the king's horses. In spite of a
pregnancy, Macha won the bet for her husband, but collapsed
at the end of the track where she bore the "emain" or twins,
thus giving name to Emain Macha, where the event took
place. Angered at the men who had forced her to race
against pains of labour, The Macha left Northern Ireland

cursing the land with civil unrest for "nine times nine
generations". In addition she promised the Ulster warriors
that they would be "inconvenienced" by similar pains on a
monthly basis. Thus the outlander Cu Chulainn, a mercenary
to King Conor, was the only man in condition to hold the
Ford of Ulster when Queen Medb's forces marched north from
Connaught.
GEAS BOC, a Guy’s buck. A quater-day victim. It is recorded
that Samhuinn eve was the time when men battled the dark
forces while Samhuinn itself (November 1) was the day
when mortals made peace with the spirit world. "On this
day the feast of Tara was held, and it was probably on this
day that the high-king of Tara celebrated his ritual
marriage with the goddess of the earth, to ensure the
prosperity of his reign." Remembering that the Mhorrigan
was one of the banshee tribe, recalls Keats poem "La Belle
Dame Sans Merci", which is based on the old tale that the
Irish bean-sidh were beautiful sidh-woman who, at
Samhuinn, went searching for mortal lovers. This implies a
male victim.
In Denmark, the person to cut the last sheath was
always a woman, and the male "geis buc" fashioned from the
corn became her partner at the harvest dance. She was
greeted there as "the widow" and wept symbolic tears
because she knew herslf to be wed to a mythical being
bound to be killed for the good of the land.
Honest kings went to ashes more rapidly than frauds
as they had the disadvantage of actually believing that they
represented a link between men and the creator-god. They
submitted themselves more readily to a role in the
sacrificial rite of the divine king, while sleazier
compatriots talked their way around failures in
commanding the elemental gods who were the real
representatives of the Ahair. At that, all of the Celtic
kings had short reigns since they invariably showed
weaknesses of spirit in allowing floods, famine, fire or the
ravages of war.

Incarnate human gods were truly between a rock and a
hard place when their "magic" failed. Those seen to be
ravaged by advancing age were knifed in battle by a close
relative. Some peoples though it unsafe to wait for this
season of decay, preferring to return the god-king to the
circles of being while he was still vigorous. Thus the
Swedes put a legal limit of nine years on the kingship of
their god. King Aun circumvented this by noting that his
sons shared his spirit and at intervals had them put to death
in his place. He was prevented from doing down a tenth son
when his adherents pointed to his decrepit health and
insisted that he should be the one to die. The Celtic kings
were not as "progressive" but some of them did offer
relatives as substitutes. When the process was no longer
understood, men and women continued to be put to death
"for the good of the land", but royal blood was no longer
required. In those latter days enemies of the clan,
prisoners and murderers were burned alive along with
plants and animals which were considered to be familiars
of the bhoabhs and bhodachs.
This was a very ancient practice as a poem in the
Books of Leinster, Lecan, and Ballymote and also in the
Rennes Dindsenchas records the sacrifice at Samhuinn of
one-third of the new-born children born during Samhradh to
the stone idol known as Crom (the crooked) at Mag Sleacht
(the plain of prostrations) in County Cavan, Ireland. This
must have been during a season of vast crop failure when it
was felt that the soil needed a special infusion of godspirit,
but even at the best of times this savage stone idol
demanded "the firstling of every issue and the chief scions
of every clan." King Tighernas and his people prostrated
themselves before this nathair with such force that "the
tops of their foreheads and the gristle of their noses and
the caps of their knees and the ends of their elbows broke."
On that occasion two-thirds of the population went to
ground and did not arise. According to a persistent myth
this day god was killed by Lugh of the Long Arm. Some
insist that the idol fell to the magic of Saint Patrick.

People who were sacrificed were often ritually
burdened with the evil spirits currently plaguing the
neighbourhood, it being supposed that they would not mind
the brief inconvenience before death. Further, there seems
to have been a Celtic belief in spiritual checks and
balances, attempts having been made to pass the evil-spirit
which caused illness from a valuable citizen to one of less
importance. This type of magic was seen in operation as
late as 1589 when Hector Munro of Foulis called on a local
bhoabhs to save his ailing life by transferring a spirit of
illness on to his half brother George Munro. Witnessses to
the procedure said that the chief witch dug a grave in which
Hector lay at midnight, wrapped in blankets and covered
over with grass sods, the later fastened in place with
rowan branches. After certain rites "the chief literally
returned from the grave to Foulis castle. His brother George
duly died in 1590 while Hector, recovered from his long
illness, stood trial for murder and witchcraft." He was
found not guilty but the bhoabh that performed the ceremony
was burned alive.
This same attitude is seen in the marriage rites of
Mebd's people. Ward Rutherford writes: "At Samain men
from all over Ireland converge on Cruachain, the royal
centre of Connaught to woo a maiden. For each suitor, one
of his people was secretly slain (thus releasing a spirit to
the land of Mebd while gaining surrendering a spirit for the
clan of the male partner). The maiden must be the
territorial goddesses whose goodwill is secured by these
sacrifices and it is in this sense that we must understand
Queen Mebd's thirty lovers; they were sacrificial victims."
Where the woman was not killed along with her
partner she was raped with the full consent of the
community, and this victim was often called the "carlin", a
word also used to describe the lotting device used in her
selection. Carlin, or carline, is derived from the Old Norse
"karling", a man-like woman, hence an aged crone or a witch.
At first virginal women were required for the rites, but it

was later realized that any woman might serve, her
virginity restored by an infusion of goddess-spirit.
On the Hebridean island of Tiree, the Rev. J.G.
Campbell found that: "In harvest there was a struggle to
escape from being the last done with the shearing (of the
grain) and when tillage in common existed, instances were
known of a ridge being left unshorn (no person would claim
it) because of it being behind the rest in growth. The fear
entertained was that of having the "ghort a bhaile" (famine
of the farm in the shape of an imaginary old woman
(cailleach) to feed till the next harvest. Much emulation and
amusement arose from the fear of this old woman...The last
act of the harvest home was to fashion a doll, which was
called the "carlin" (old wife) and this was sent by the
farmer to his nearest neighbour. He in turn (when his crops
came in) passed it to another still less expedious and the
person it finally harboured with had the calleach to keep for
the year."
Similar habits were reported from Wales, where the
old lady was termed the "wrach" (hag). She was fashioned
as a plaited "kern" doll six to twelve inches in height. When
she was complete men took turns throwing their sickles at
this representative of winter and the reaper who first
"brought blood" received a jug of home brewed ale. The
wrack was then hurridly transferred to another farm by the
the ploughman. He was very careful to go unobserved on
this errand, for if he was caught he would be roughly routed
by farmhands. At the next farm this visitor attempted to
impale the old woman on the blade of the foreman's sickle,
and then made a hasty retreat being lucky to escape injury
from the flying edged-tools that were thrown after him. In
more conservative neighbourhoods, the spirit of the grain
was simply brought home to the farmhouse, the ploughman
having to escape the wrath of the residents who greeted
him with pails charges with ice-cold water, If he managed
this unobserved he was given ale from "the cask next to the
wall" or the master of the house had to pay him a small fine.
"The hag was carefully hung on a nail in the hall or

elsewhere and kept there all year.
GEASCHAD, enchantment, charm. Conjuration, vow,
astrology, a superstition. Geaseachd, enchantment, sorcery.
GEASADAIR, wizard, charmer, conjurer, sorcerer. Geasach,
enchanting, charming,
GEASA DROMA DRAIOCHTA , (gay sha dro ma dru hok tah),
droman, the alder tree; draoi, a magician. An enchantment of
inviolable power enacted by a master-magician. These
spells were cast by envisioning the final effect on the geisbearer.
The magician then chanted appropriate words which
increased in volume to a final crescendo.
GEASA GRA, (gay sh graw), a love enchantment, but note
grab, an interference with normal events, a hindrance, the
Eng. grab, to take by improper means. EIr. ghr, gut, a cord,
suggesting the use of the “blue clew of witchcraft” to
obtain a desired end. Eng. cord. Alternately greathlach, an
inspector of cylinders or entrails of animals (a witch).”
GEAS DIOMA, dioma, on me; a proscription (on me). A druidic
enchantment.
GEASA DRAOIDACHT, “the sorceries of the druids.”
GEBANN. The father of Cliodhna, the Irish goddess of beauty.
GEIS, GEAS, custom, prohibition, a proscription through
magic, geisneach, enchanted, like a charm. Enchanting,
conjuring.
GEILT, terror, fear, a distracted person, wild, made mad
through fear, shell-shocked. cowardice. geill, yield, submit,
Norse vertha at gjalti. Same word as Eng. jell, to turn solid,
freeze in terror.
During the battle of Venntry when Fionn mac Cumhail
fought Daire Don, the “King of the World,” one of his

warriors named Goll retreated to Gleann na nGealt, the
“Glen of the Guilty,” the only place where lunatics and
cowards could dwell. There he consumed water-cresses and
drank from Tobergalt, the “Well of the Guilty,” and
recovered his senses. Suibhne Geilt, similarly reactive to
the Battle of Moyrath also went there.
Cowardly men, suffering from “shell-shock,” were
said to retreat from other men and in the forest acquired a
coat of feathers. Although they were unable to fly it was
noted that they could run faster than a greyhound and skip
among the trees “as swiftly as monkeys or squirrels.” It is
said that the spirit of Suibhne having descended to madness
flew up into the air “as a bird” and only arrived at his glen
of delight “after long and arduous wanderings.” See gealta.
GEIM DRUATH, geim, from below; the Druath’s Lever or
Spear, a druid’s weapon, the druid’s “cry,” geim, a dart, the
word is based on gobhal, a forked stick. The “Druath’s Cry.”
Skr. dru, to melt or run, from draoi, a druid. This weapon
was thrust at the genitals. Ir. draoi, genitive case, druadh.
The Eng. true, an “artist.” Geimh, fetter, chains. In the
medieval period the druath was defined as a set of court
entertainer, the others being professional jesters, or standup
comics, jugglers and buffons, or experts at slapstick. It
is said the druath was often dismissed as a buffon but he
was “of a superior order.”
Of particular note was druath Ua Maighlinne who
belonged the court at Ailech in the eighth century. On the
eve of the great battle at Almain (Allen) he entertained the
northern warriors by reciting all the battles and triumphs
of their forefathers. When he was taken prisoner, and about
to be beheaded, he was asked to give the geim druath, or
“druith’s cry” one more time before dying. So loud,
beautiful, and melodious was this peculiar sound that for
three days and nights echoes of it reverberated from the
spot where he had stood. Another “entertainer” named
Donnbo was killed in this same conflict, and it was later
agreed that he was not only handsome “but the best at

singing amusing verses and telling royal stories, the best to
equip horses, and to mount spears, and to plait hair; and his
intellect was acute.” In short, a Rennaissance man.
Weighted down with a sad prescience of disaster Donnbo did
not feel like entertaining the troops on the eve before
battle, but made way for Ua Maighlinne promising to provide
the victory amusements on the following night. As it
happened his head was severed in battle the next day. The
victorious king of Leinster sent a warrior to the battlefield
daring him to bring home the head of this man. In the dead of
night he heard a voice from the heavens demand that Donnbo
make good his pledge of entertainment and the astounded
warrior heard “dead singers and trumpeters and harpers
render music the like of which he had never heard before. or
after. And finally he heard the head of Doonbo give the dordfiansa,
the sweetest of all music in the world. When the
warrior made as if to lift the head it demanded reunion with
its body and the warrior did not dare to defer.
GEINTLEACH. gein, obs. a sword, The Gaels called the
northern viking-raiders geintleach, “gentiles,” or heathens.
Later they revived the old word gaill or goill, a “Gaul”, or
stranger, those of “the surly looks” to describe their
unwanted visitors. Sometimes the Irish referred to the
newcomers as Lochlannaigh, although this was also visited
upon the neighbouring Scots. Later still, Irish writers,
wishing to distinguish between the earlier and later
invaders limited the latter name to the Norwegians and
called the Danes the Danair. More commonly the viking
Norse were seen as “white” while those of Danish descent
were seen as the “black heathens.” This difference had
nothing to do with complexions, but took note of the fact
that the “whites” fought in commonplace linen albas
similar to those worn by the Gaels while the “blacks”
favoured dark metal coats-of-mail.
GELBAN. A son of the king of Lochlann, or Scotland, who
spied on the Red Branch Hostel for his king. The ard-righ
Conchobhar mac Nessa wished to know if Deirdre’s looks
had faded. Naoise was playing fidchell with Deirdre when

this peeping-tom peered through a window. He hurled one of
the fids up at the intruder and put out his eye. Gelban,
nevertheless, saw enough to report that the woman was
still a famed beauty. Elsewhere Trendorm is spoken of as
“the spy who lost one of his eyes.”
GEOC, wry-necked. to grimace, a gouk or gowk, the cuckoo
bird. "So the cuckoo came with its cheating, soft-like call,
now here now there...but seldom seen by any...To see the
gowk in sleep was to dream of uncanny things. To be gowkit
body was to be a fool. A gowket's spittle was the frothy
matter so often seen on plants. A gowk's storm was the
sudden coming of storm and bad weather at the beginning of
April, when in the midst of sunny weather, none was
expecting a winter storm." "So the cuckoo bird was a daft,
cheating uncanny time - the real beginning of the Daft Days
in the year. The bairns, who have aye taken their cue from
the old folks, caught up the ancient superstition and began
to send one another on gowk's errands whenever April came
in. The hunting of the gowk is one of the few old tricks of
ancient times left to our bairnies yet." Geocach,
gluttonous, ravenous, voracios; geocair, a reveller,
vagabond, debauchee, a quarter-Day fool. See gocaman.
GEOLA, ship’s boat, yawl, from Scandinavian models, the
modern Norse jula, Swed. julle, Dan. jolle, Scot. yolle, A
jolly-boat. Cf. Eng. yell, Yule.
GEOLACH, a wooden bier, shoulder bands for the dead, giulan,
carrying, root ges, to carry.
GEUG, a sapling, a nymph, a very beautiful woman, the Sun’s
rays, a sprig, a branch, to propogate.
GHEOIDH, goose. Cy. gwydd. The destructive magical birds
that grazed the grasses and herbs of Emain Macha to the
bare ground are thought to have been geese. See cadal a’
gheoidh. Caesar said that the goose, the hare and the cock
were the three most important Celtic cult-animals. As the
goose was less than retiring it was considered to represent

spirits of war. Drawings of this animal have been found in
the Fife caves of Scotland, and these are sometimes
ascribed to the Bronze Age. A goose, of high artistic merit,
appears on a slab of Eastertom from Roseisle, and another
is seen on a memorial from Tillytarmont in Aberdeenshire.
Again, a goose is seen flying at the head of a warrior on a
stone from Aberlemno. In the “Book of Carmarthen”
reference is made to a warrior who lost his eye to a goose.
We know that ravens were trained in exactly this art, so
possibly geese might have been similarly employed. In the
Gaelic realms it was considered a bad omen to spot a goose
cruising a lake after dark. If the sighting was on a first
Thursday of the lunar month these creatures were assumed
to be shape-changed baobhe . In Celto-Roman lore this bird
of ill-omen was attached to the god Jupiter who is allied
with the Gaelic thunder-deity named Tar or Thor. Rice says
that he goose was associated with war-gods in the early
stages of mythology “and with witch-like, metamorphosed
women at a later period.” The Irish goddess Aine was
implicated in altering Gearoid Iarla so that he became a
goose.
GIALL, obs. a hostage, a pledge, Cy. gwyll, hostage, Bry.
goestl, Gaul Co-estios, Germ. gisl, AS. gisel, Eng. ghost.
GIBLEAN (gep-lin), April, giblion, entrails, the leavings,
grease from a goose’s stomach. A time of expected
privation. Gibeach, rough, hairy, untidy but active, gibeg, a
rag, a gypsy, giob, a tail, the “tail of the year.” See next.
GIBEAN, a poor ragged fellow, a person soaked through with
rain,hunch-backed. Probably related to the next entry.
GIGEAN, gig, tickler, gigeach, hard-muscled, the master of
the death-house, the wake-master, a diminutive man,
anything of small mass, from ceigein, a fat man, ON kaggi, a
cask, G. gighis, a masquerade, cf. gysar. a masker, a “disguiser.”
See next entry. The individual who guarded the door
against the Aog and relieved wake-comers of their alcohol
(in the interest of decorum). He led the funeral procession,

which was always on foot, and doled out drinks to the
wake-procession, usually in proportion to their need. See
next.
GIGHIS, a masquerader from SIr, gyis, a mask and AS.
gysard, one who disguises his identity especially at the
Yule. These individuals usually took charge of "doing-down"
the individual selected to die in the fire-festivals, thus
their need for disguise. At a later date the travelling
"guisers" entertained the neighbourhood with a playlet that
reflected the old time doing down of evil and rejuvenation
of a sun-god at the apex of winter. This exercise
degenerated into a revenge of the lower classes upon their
upper-class bosses, thus the continuing need for a secure
disguise. See the associated entry Galatae.
GILLEABART, Gillebride, Gilbert, AS. Gislebert. In Gaelic,
the servant of the goddess Bridd.
GILLE-DHU, gillie, pl. gillean, boy, lad; dhu, black, referring
to his sub-browned skin and perhaps his disposition.
Confers with the Anglo-Saxon cild from which we have
child. May be borrowed from the Old Norse gildr, stout,
brawny, full of merit. Also note the similar Anglo-Saxon
gild, from which guild, a payment in kind or money, and
gilda, one who pays, a common fellow. The lowland fairies
are always described as having black complexions, while
the Gaelic sidh were described as white-faced. Corresponds
with the English spirit known as the brown man of the
moors, a protector of birds and small animals. In English
"gill" is taken as an abbreviation of gillian, a girl or wench
of uncertain reputation, thus a wanton person as well as
malt liquor medicated with ground ivy. The soapwort plant
of England had a habit of growing without bounds and was
called gill-run-by-the-street, a nice expression of the
contemptuous slant given this Gaelic word.
The black lad is precisely the equal of the brownie or
bodach, a menial spirit who served households in return for
a modest keep. He was like the hobgoblins and goodfellows

of southern England, "those that would grind corn for a mess
of milk, cut wood, or do any manner of drudgery work."
Some were engaged in "sweeping houses, in exchange for
setting of a pail of good water, victuals, and the like,
following which they (the householders) should not be
pinched, but find money in their shoes, and be fortunate in
their enterprises." Those living apart from men walked,
"about midnight, on heaths and desert places, and draw men
out of their way and lead them all night a by-way, or quite
barre them of their way..." According to Keightley all of
this breed were cleared from England about the reign of
Elizabeth I, "or that of her father at the furthest."
The gillie dubh is partially remembered in our eastern
provinces of Canada as the gilloc, jillick, jillock or jullic,4
phonetic spellings for a word that also used to be employed
to describe a quantity of alcohol, or its container, the
measure being related to the Scottish gill, which is less
than a quarter pint. Also recalled in the lumbering
expression "jill-poke", "Any log or tree that interfered with
the movement of timber while yarding on sleds or in the
drive."5 Canadian tales of this creature are common:
Sutherland Hall at Bonny River were reasonably large for
the year seventeen eighty-three, when they were built by a
gentleman who had been a major in the Queen's Rangers.
This former soldier was one of the Scots who fought as
mercenaries for the British in the Revolutionary War. A one
time resident of Virginia, he lost his estates there and was
in "reduced circumstances" when his regiment was
disbanded in New Brunswick. His "growth-potential" was
sufficient for a "gillie dubh" to move with him to British
North America. Nicknamed the "cold lad" for the breeze that
he carried about him, the gillie was a peculiar houseservant.
Every night, the regular staff heard him
disassembling the kitchen, and knocking things about if they
were left too neatly. The workers soon saw the advantage
4Pratt, Dictionary Of Prince Edward Island English, p. 65,
5Smith, George, Timber, p. 25.

of leaving a bit of work to be done, for gillie was an
efficient arranger where there was disorder. Unfortunately,
the local Anglican priest was convinced of the necessity of
banishing this brownie, and tried a number of exorcisms,
which were met with a hollow ringing laughter. The clerics
own human gillie remembered that this clan was invariably
offended by pretensions, so they laid out new clothing and a
vast feast for the spirit. The gillie responded with a
couplet: What have we here? Hemten, hemten. Here will I
no more tread or stampen." He vanished in a whirl of wind
that extinguished the candles and took the luck of
Sutherland Hall with him. Although Colonel Hugh did manage
to prosper without brownie, Sutherland Hall was lost to
fire.
GILLE-GLAS, the “Grey Servant.” He appears in a traditional
Scottish tale as a widow’s son who aspired to, an obtained,
good fortune through physical prowess and his “iron shinty.”
Like Odin and the Gaelic gods he was beset by giants but
killed them all with this iron hockey club. Afterwards it is
noted that he “gathered up the grey skirts of his garmets.”
Notice that Odin wore similar apparel? This same creature
is often described as the haunt of remote mountain-tops.
GILLE-GNO, the “Gruff Servant.” Gille, lad, servant, from
EIr. gilla, a child, the AS. cild, Eng. child. Used to identify
Norsemen converted to Christianity and held as hostages
within Gaelic communities, This word was preferred over
maol, slave. Also one of the kings of the Undersea World
who took this form to enter the camp of the Fionn where he
purportedly sought employment. When some of the warriors
"tried out" the weather-beaten mare he had with him, she
carried them off into the western sea. After numerous
adventures, Fionn and his companions agreed to assist the
Fomorian in battles with his enemies. The nag was finally
revealed as the shape-changed queen of the Undersea
Kingdom.
GILLEOSA, servant of osag, the breeze, ultimately the god
Ve. In the latter days “the servant of Jesus.” From M’A-

Lios is derived the anglicized Lees and McLeish.
GIN, GAN, beget, anyone, being, substance, production, kind,
obs. the mouth, gineadan, the genitals, gineal, offspring, Ir.
geinem, MIr. genar, was born, OIr, gein, birth, Cy. geni, Bry.
ganet, born, the supposed root geno, Lat. gigno, begat, Eng.
kin, Skr. jano, race, stock, janami, beget, Thus G. gin,
anyone. Frequently seen as a suffix, as in Mhorri-gan,
begotten of Mhor-ri or Mur-ray, the “great queen.” See
gionach.
GINEAMHAIR, obs. January. The month of high begetting
(since there was little else to do). Also implies “begiining.”
Ginean, a foetus, any diminutive creature. Gintinn, the act of
procreation.
GINEAS, the seat of emotions, emotions as opposed to
intellect. The subconscious mind. Geinem, begetter. In
ancient times it was suspected that this spirit was
resident in the heart, and was constantly at odds with the
spirit of the head.
GIOBAN-IORTACH, goose-grease, good for the ills or man or
beast.
GIOLLA GRÉINE. The daughter of a human father and a
sunbeam. Told of her supernatural side she jumped into Loch
Gréine and was drowned.
GION-BHAIR, syn. January, gion, having an excessive love of
leisure (but what is there to do in this dark cold month?)
avarice, voscacity. See the next.
GIONACH, greed, MIr. ginach, craving, from the obs. gin,
mouth, thus a “taste” for things, OIr. gen, Lat. gena, the
cheek, Eng. chin.
GIOINE NAN DRIUIDH, gioine, glass, drinking glass, “the
druidic glass,” an amulet worn by members of the druidic
order. Also known as the “serpent’s egg” it was supposedly

obtained that it was retrieved from among these animals by
tossing it into the air with a scared stick. The eggs were
caught on a linen sheet before they could touch the ground.
They were then passed to a man on horseback who raced
these pooisonous snakes to the nearest running water. Here
the snakes could not pass or pursue. The individual “eggs”
were mounted in gold and worn on the breast. They were
observed as the sizre of a small apple and were said to have
a cartilaginous surface. The magic of these eggs was
resorted to in solving lawsuits and in gaining access to the
kings of the land. Some of these amulets “of glass and
stone” remained in Scotland where Pliny said they were
“conveyed for the cure of disease...”
GIOS, creak, crack, a "putting up" song, milling song.
Giosgan, creaking, gnashing. “When a milling frolic was
complete and the cloth fulled it was wound upon forms to
set. This process called for the "gios", a song in keeping
with the usual completion hour of five or six in the morning;
the metre tended to be erratic, although more playful than
that of the "milling song."
"The more knowing matrons would pair off the various
girls present with the men destined to become their
husbands. There were many forms of "pairing song" and
many ingenious impromptu modifications." Usually a lead
singer would start asking the question, "What young girl
stands here without a husband?" Another singer would
answer in the same metre, picking the name of a girl for
general consideration. The leader would then ask, "What
young man shall I choose for you?" The young girl might
tentatively reply, "Won't you give to me my sweetheart?"
The leader would then suggest a boy by name, for example:
"Then it's Malcolm that I'll send your way?" If the girl had
no interest in Malcolm she was likely to be blunt: "That
dirty boor, who falls down under the cloud of drink?" Other
suggestions would be offered, circumventing the "true love."
Left without recourse the leader would at last be forced to
name the correct swain, at which the girl was expected to
sing his praise. If she was very pleased with him she might

intone: "Ah, that is the lad with the pure heart in his
bosom," but if she was less certain she would sing, "If he
came begging I'd perhaps offer alms." This was repeated for
all the available young women at the gathering, and probably
reflects a mode of pairing anciently used at quarter-day
festivals. When the cloth was put up it was consecrated
with the deasalt (which, see), or sunward turn ceremony in
all but pagan communities.” (Highland Settler, pp. 41-43).
GIS, GISEAG, GISREAG, charm, spell, superstitious
ceremony, witchcraft in Sutherland, originally a fiery spell
backed by supernatural forces, a blast of light energy; later
a charm; a magic formula; a fret, any superstition. See geas.
The classic burst of light and heat energy used to reduce a
foe to black ash; an elder day laser-beam.
GIUGA, a goose, a fat silly individual, one “ripe for
plucking,” a victim, related to gugail, the clucking of
poultry. similar to gogail, cackling.

GIUTHAS, fir, EIr. gius, root gis, see geas; OIr. gae, bristling
as in the weapon gae bulge. Resinous Fir tips were burned as
torches at the Quarter-Days.
GLAISTIG, GLAISTIC, GLAISRIG, glas + tighil, grey, greygreen,
pale, wan, ash-like, sallow; Ir. glass, Germ. glas,
sheen + + teaghlach, family. Female sidh, a gorgon. A female
water imp with a vampire-like taste for human blood; she
had the body of a goat from the waist downward. A
beansith. or grugach. The male equivalent is the urusig. The
Manx glashtyn, also known as the tangie or kelpie. This
female sidh approaches descriptions of the classic vampire
except that her lower extremities were described as those
of a goat. These features identify her as the mate of the
bocan, pocan, or phooka, the he goat of Gaelic mythology.
The cornbucks, or goat-people had charge of the growth of
field crops, and actually dwelt within the grain, being cut
down at the harvest. One of their kind, the "corn-mother"
(see cailleach bheurr) was overwintered and returned to the
field to inspirit it in the summer.
The glaistig was benign and gentle towards women,
children and the elderly, and was even observed herding
cattle for senior citizens. On the other hand, she often took
a position near a ford and stopped younger men who tried to
pass. Her goat-like attributes were hidden beneath a long
flowing green gown, so most men were less suspicion than
they should have been when she invited them to dance. Once
this seductress held them in "glamour" they were unable to
break away as she fed vampire-fashion on their life-blood.
These are not unlike the white women and the green women
of English myth, creatures equated with the korrid-gwen
and the morrigan. The dames vertes, who seem to have been
Anglo-Norman spirits led men astray, "destroying them with
the violence of their emotions and the exuberance of their
lovemaking."
The Occult Reader has said...dogs hold in greatest
terror certain spots in Skye...rumoured to be haunted by the

glaistigs, local spirits, once popularly held responsible for
the deaths and mutilation of members of the canine race."
Only one Scottish clan benefitted materially from an
association with the glaistig, and this was the Kennedys of
Lianachan, who lived on the moor at the foot of Aonach Mor
in Lochabar. The family had fled to these wilds pursued by
hostile neighbours. This branch of the family known as
Clann Ualraig (the descendants of Walrick) fought under the
Macdonells of Keppoch and finally became a military power
in their own right. According to legend, the Kennedys, at
first, had little wealth and no possessions. Walrick
Kennedy was often tempted into the fens by will o' the wisp
lights but he took the precaution of having his coal-black
horse shod with iron, and always wore a powerful belt as
protection against the Daoine sidh. He was riding this
steed when he came up[on the river Curr. There he found an
elderly woman, who unable to cross the river unaided (or so
she claimed) asked Kennedy for help. Kennedy agreed but
became suspicious when she attempted to mount behind him.
"I'll take you over safe," he noted, "but I'd much prefer to
have you in front." When she shifted places he seized her
hands and using his magic belt tied them to the saddle. She
immediately began to bargain for her release but he turned
down a number of tempting propositions until she promised
to build him, "in one night and one day" a moat-guarded
castle which no element could breach. When she further
promised to remove herself and all of her subjects from the
fenns, Mac Cuaraig agreed: "Before dawn the roof was on
the finished building, fire on the hearth and blue smoke
from every chimney. Meantime Mac Curaig kept a
ploughshare in the fire to defend himself from her
witcheries as he well knew what ricks fairies play.
Afterwards he loosened the girdle that bound the hag, but
kept her outside the window, and when she bid him goodbye
with the intention of carrying himself and the castle into
fairyland he gave her the hot ploughshare, Mad with pain
and fury she leapt away from him and taking up her position
on the grey stone of Foich, she hurled at him the curse
which has become a household word in Lochebar with
reference to the Kennedys: "Grow as the rashes, And with

as the bracken. Turn grey in childhood, And die in your
strength." This was a prediction as well as a curse for the
Kennedys of LIanachan are no more. Quotes are from Celtic
Monthly, 1901.
GLAM, GLAIM DICEND, "devouring howl." glam, seize by the
throat, ravenous, devour, bawl, cry out. "Forms of verse
were many and complex, and the intending poets had to go
through an elaborate training to achieve the status of ollam.
When they reached that stage they would wield a weapon of
fearful authority: Satire. This ranged from the simple
"insulting speech without harmony" to the glam dicend
(satire from the hilltops, an elaborate ritual of magic."
supposedly generating a "gisreag", or jet of destroying fire.
The Anglo-Normans divided their "wordsmithery" into
charms and spells, the former chanted, the latter, less
poetic and paper-bound. The gisreag obviously corresponded
with the charm but the English product was less worldshaking.
When the Tuatha daoine had been harassed by the
"sea-giants", all of their craftsmen had gathered to do war.
The magicians had promised to chant up a storm which
would create landslides "rolling the summits against the
ground" and over their enemies. They also said that they
would raise "showers of fire to pour upon the Fomorian
host" and create charms that would "take out of their bodies
two-thirds of their strength."6 If the word-magic
succeeded, its secrets are lost, and today "giseagan" is
preserved in Gaelic as the equivalent of "superstition".
Caer ard-righ of Connaught illustrates the effects of
this magic: His wife fell in love with their foster-son
Nede, who happened to be a trained poet. She suggested that
Nede should disfigure the king so that he would be displaced
under the law that allowed rulers no physical
imperfections. Nede thought this might be difficult since it
was required that the satirist must be refused a boon by
his victim, and King Caer was known for his generosity to
6Katherine Scherman, The Flowering of Ireland, pp. 55-56.

his adopted son. The disloyal wife pointed out his one
weakness: a knife which he could not give up because it
represented his personal geas. Nede, therefore, requested
the knife, was regretfully refused, and composed a biting
satire suggesting that the king was parsimonious. The next
morning, the hapless victim awoke to find his face blistered
with a red, a green and a white blister. He fled in shame
and Nede was elected king in his place. Later Nede, feeling
pangs of conscience sought his father-in-law and found him
hiding, hermit-like, in a cleft in a rock. Nede approached
with words of atonement but the unhappy man died of
humiliation at being seen. At this, the rock of his hiding
place "boiled up and burst", and a splinter flew off, entered
one of Nede's eyes and exploded in his brain.
GLAS, sallow, poor, ill-looking, grey from Ir. glas, green,
pale, blue-green, a synonym for blue, which was never
named in Gaelic because it was considered a colour
dedicated to the powerful, and dangerous, gods of the Upper
Air. Br. glas, green, Germ. glast, having a sheen; Eng. gleam,
glitter, glimmer, glass. The gods were often observed as
“blue men,” and there type is not unknown among the
present-day Gaels. My late wife, the former Anne Torey of
new Glasgow, Nova Scotia, remembers that the Reverend Dr.
Fraser of the United Presbyterian Church at Bernard Street
had the genotype. She described him as having “a blue-grey
skin, light in tone and wax-like in appearance.” Note the
alternate meaning, a “lock,” said from the root glapsa,
corresponding with the Eng. clasp.
GLAS GHAIBHNEACH, GHAIBHLEANN, GAIBLEANN, (Glas Govan),
the grey cow of Goibnui, a provider of unending milk.
Offended by the Scandinavians this spirit moved to
Scotland. Glas. grey; gabbh + leann, prodigious + ale. Balor
of the Evil Eye promised this cow to the smith, Goibnui, in
return for work on his redoubt of Torr Mor (Great Thor’s
Island) off the northwestern coast of Ireland. Balor failed
to include the magical "byre" with which the animal needed
to be tethered if it were to remain long in one place.
Consequently the creature returned to Tory Island, pursued

y Cian, an apprentice to the smith. She was finally
restored to the mainland, but ill-feelings were generated
between the sea-giants and the men of Ireland. Port na
Glaise is said to have been the final residence of the grey
cow and some say she is still seen in that vicinity.
Wherever she treads there is always an abundance of grass,
and occasionally a poor farmer has had the animal arrive
unannounced at his homestead. There she has remained
enriching that person, until she is invariable stuck in anger,
and reacts by disappearing like fog on a sunny mountain-top.
See also Gobhan Saor. This animal confers with the Old
Norse cow called Audhulma, the “Nourisher” who provided
milk for the giant Ymir in the days immediately after the
Creation.
GLEANN NA BODHAR, “Valley of the Deaf.” Here Cúchullain
recovered from his enchantment at the hands of the
daughters of Clann Calatin.
GLEANN SHEILEACH, Glen of the Sithe or fay-folk, within the
town of Oban, Scotland. A place occupied for perhaps nine
thousand years. In 1894 quarrymen constructing the
present George Street discovered caves containing the
remains of Azilian man (6000 B.C.) These Middle Stone Age
hunters migrated to Britain just after it had become
separated from the continent. Along with human skulls, a
score of flints, three stone hammers, harpoons, and other
implements of horn and bone were unearthed.
GLIC, wise, sagacious, prudent, steady, cunning, cautious,
glice, more or most wise.
GLISOGANACH UD A STIGH, the “imp that shimmers.” a haunt
of Aberfeldy, Scotland. Described as dressed in a black
frock-coat, tall and swarthy with an hypnotic gaze.
Answers to the name “devil.” Two handred years ago Robert
MacLean is said to have wrestled this spirit for three hours.
Aftrerwards he was so saturated with evil-influences his
horses would no longer approach him and he became
melancholy. He was finally exorcisized by a minister from

Weems.
GLOG, GLOC, to swallow, a soft lump, glogair, a clown, a
stupid person, a Quarter-Day fool, literally an “unstable
one,” cf. glug, the noise made by a liquid in a vessel on being
moved, Ir. glugal, the clucking of a hen. Also glugach,
stammering or clucking, gloc, the noises made by a hen, Eng.
cluck, clock, cf. Scot. glugger, the noise made in swallowing
a liquid.
GNU, parsimonious, surly, mean. In the old Scottish
kingdoms a lack of kingly patronage was considered the
ultimate evil. Breas was the first monarch accused of this
crime.
GO, a lie, a fault, a fraud, a liar. Guile, grudge, blemish, obs.,
the sea, a spear. Said to confer with gag, a chink, “having a
bit missing,” Persian zur, false.
GOBHA, gow, a smith, now more often gobhainn, from which
Mac-cowan. Mac-gowan and Cowan. This craft was
considered magical. The divine smith-warrior is commonly
seen in the Celtic setting. The divine smith not only
fashioned weapons for the gods but presided over the
Otherworld Feast. This god is sometimes identified as Tar
but is more often said to be the land-form of Manann mac
Ler. See next.
GOBHAN SAOR (go-uh), gobhainn, a smith; saor (sawr), a
sawyer or carpenter; a jack-of-all-trades. The builder to
Balor of the Evil Eye. When he and his son constructed the
crystal-castle ofTorr Mor on Tory Island, Balor tried to
cheat them of their fee by stranding them on the ramparts
when he ordered the scaffolding removed. The carpenters
quickly began to dismantle their wood and stone work and
the sea-giant was forced to restore their underpinnings.
When Balor asked why they had attempted to disassemble
his castle they explained that it was slightly out of true,
and suggested he send one of his sons to Ireland to collect
their levelling tools. The tools that they required were

actually non-existent but served to signal the Goban Saor's
wife that all was not well. She instructed Balor’s son to
retrieve the tools that were needed from a deep chest, and
catching him off balance, tumbled him in and locked the top.
With the young Fomorian as hostage, Balor was forced to
release the carpenters and pay them with the Grey Cow that
gave unending milk. Unfortunately, Balor failed to provide
the Irishmen with the magical-byre that held the cow in
place, and she soon returned to Tory Island. Goban Soar sent
Cian of Contje to retrieve the cow and he inadvertently
impregnated Balor's daughter, who gave birth to the godhero
Lugh of the Long Arm. This lad killed his grandfather
Balor, thus fulfilling a druidic prophecy.
GOBHAR, GOBHAIR, GOIBHRE, GABHAR, GABHAIR, GAIBHRE,
(ga-ar), goat. The root is gab as in gabh, to take (whatever
is offered). A Quarter-Day mummer, especially the leader
of the group. See boc. Dialectic English, gofer or goofer,
from the French gaffe, a bungler, clown, a foolish fellow, an
ill-made individual. Confers with goffer, to crimp cloth
creating a honeycomb pattern, the kind preferred as ruffles
for the costumes of medieval clowns. Related to the
German words wafer and waffle. The spelling gopher is
preferred to designate small rodents which tunnel the earth
in seemingly random, clown-like fashion. Related to the
Gaelic gobhar, a goat, the root being gab, take, as in the Lat.
caper. The Gaelic root is sometimes given as gam-ro,
incorporating the same gam as that seen in geamhradh,
winter. The gopher proper is an invisible entity carrying
what appears to be a sphere of lambent light, the latter
called the gopher-light, corpse-candle, fox-fire, or deadlight.
This spirit is known as the fetch when it travels over
water and is the close kin of the will o' the wisp. except
that the latter is not an inevitable omen of disaster.
Gophers are termed runners when they act on behalf of men
not destined for death, thus the modern use of the word to
describe one who performs errands for the boss. This is the
Gaelic fear dearg (fiery man) and the French feu follet

(fiery-fool). The gopher may goof-off while his host lives,
but is absolutely committed to communicating warnings of
death; first to the person he serves, and later to the
community at large. The forerunner may materialize as the
double of the man or woman in question, or as a totem
animal,7 but may be perceived as a flaming ball of fire that
approaches and falls to earth. The speed of approach is said
related to the nearness of death, and there are instances
where men or women lived many years after their warning.
More often, death after a few days, or weeks, is anticipated.
At the time of death, the gopher is aroused for one last duty
signalling the passage of the primary soul by lighting the
exact future route from the home of the dead person to the
final resting place in the cemetery. Less frequently, where
death occurs away from home, the light may move from the
body to the residence of the dead person, signalling his
living relatives that he has "passed over."
Whatever the purpose of the light, men are warned
against standing in its path, since those touched by it
suffered electrocution whether the light was meant for
them or some other person in the community. A gopher
haunted the village of Cape Negro, Nova Scotia. Two
brothers saw one "blazing up right in the middle of the
medder (meadow). By the by we could see the "man" who
was swinging the lantern. We rushed home and told mother
and she ran out and saw it too. After that it came down
toward the harbour and then diddled up and down and went
back. In most cases the gopher light could be connected with
a death, or deaths, in the village. Again, at Cape Negro. two
boys managed to kill themselves while hunting birds and
afterwards, for several years at the turn of the century a
gopher light was seen just before storms at sea: "It would
start in the place where the boys shot themselves and
would go back (to) the same place. It would start small and
would get big as a washtub, and there was a man in the light
swinging a lantern. One time, three men went out in a dory
7Notice that Creighton describes a ghost-dog as a gopher on page
229 of Bluenose Ghosts.

after it to see if they could find out what it was. They took
a gun and started to row and they got just so nigh and the
light would diddle up and down and it took down the harbour
and they couldn't catch it. They shot at it and gave it up.
People got scared of it cause after a while it began to move
around the shore. It would go down and come up and you
could see this man swinging his lantern. When you saw it
you always knew there would be a storm..."8
Sometimes gopher lights merely served to announce a
passing, but they could become attached to residences
where a traumatic death had occurred, thus evidencing
themselves as a ghost of the dead. This seems to have been
the case on Spiddle Hill, in Colchester County, Nova Scotia,
which was once haunted by a ball of fire. Since it floated
over the Ross farm, it came to be called Ross's Torch. "It
was a round bright light and lighted the whole place but,
when (the family left), it left." No one knew the name of
the instigating spirit and it was of such common occurrence
that most people ignored it in spite of its reputation as a
dangerous omen.
One exception was a farmer named Murray, who was a
stranger to the region: "He saw the light and was watching
it so closely that (his horse and wagon) went off course."
He saw something in the light not previously observed and,
at home, "collapsed and, although he lived for a while, never
got out of bed again."9
At Ingomar, people also gave this name to the spiritlight:
"The gopher was something that appeared at Ingomar
and people wouldn't go near the place where it was seen...
Nothing had ever happened there to account for it as far as
anyone knew, but they dassn't pass it. It died away after a
8Creighton, Helen, Bluenose Ghosts, p. 230.
9Creighton, Helen, Bluenose Ghosts, p. 235.

while but not before frightening a lot of people."10
At Clyde River, Prince Edward Island, the haunt
appeared as “ dim wavering light.”Joseph Devereux says he
thinks it became particularly active in 1910: “It was
reported almost nightly at the western end of the bridge. It
would drift slowly up the hill past the Presbyterian church,
to a point near the Bannockburn Road where, after a pause,
it would fade from view.” At first nothing of any
consequence took place but toward the end of that year “an
old couple, Paul MacPhail and his wife, died in a fire that
destroyed their home at the spot where the light was said
to have lingered.” This same writer said that similar lights
were seen “on a low-lying stretch of land farther west.”11
At Spirit Hill, Cape Sable Island a man tried to shoot
one of this fiery spheres but the shot rebounded and
exploded the barrel of his shotgun. Sometimes the lights
were accompanied by full poltergeistic effects, as at
Seabright, where aprons appeared strangely pleated on the
clothesline, lumber was heard falling where no piles
existed. Here one resident saw a fire-ball moving parallel
to a line fence: "It kept the form of a ball till it reached the
woodpile, and then the light disappeared, but not the sound
that went with it (a piercing howl). That followed him as
far as the door, but not into the house (spirits were
sometimes halted by the iron nails and screws that were a
part of doors and entrances)."12
Most men could not identify their mirror image, or
doppelganger. The exact identity of the gopher-spirit only
became obvious to men at the pre-death meeting. This was
the spirit that Christian's sometimes identified as their
10Creighton, Helen, Bluenose Ghosts, p. 229.
11DEVEREUX, JOSEPH, “Of Haunts and Spectres,” Weekend Guardian
Patriot, Sat. Dec. 17, 1994.
12Creighton, Helen, Bluenose Ghosts, p. 237.

conscience, sometimes seen materialized as a "guardian
angel". When Townsend was an adult, working as a plumber
on the Ford office tower in Detroit, he had another
encounter with the gopher, this time as a light. Townsend
was working overtime on a Saturday and had been sent by
his boss to the top floor with orders to install radiators:
"All right. I went up there. I didn't install much. Eleven
o'clock (p.m.) came around. I was the only one at the top of
the building. All the others were down below. The boss
says, "How's about all going home at eleven o'clock? All
satisfied?" Yes. But I didn't know anything about it. Eleven
o'clock came they switched all the lights off. I was left up
there. A great large room. And a place for a freight
elevator right in the middle. You go in there, there's nothing
to keep you from going down fifty stories. A hole for a
passenger elevator was also there. A hole through every
floor. I got to thinking, By gosh, I can't move, I wouldn't
dare move. So I doubled my coat into one corner and made a
pillow of my lunch box. I didn't go to sleep. I didn't have
time to go to sleep. When a great mighty light came up in
front of me. Oh, no light, no electric light was as bright.
Come over close to me. Then it started to move away.
Nothing said,. I knew what it meant: for me to follow the
light. I got my coat on, the lunch box and went over to the
ladder. And that tremendous light stayed with me almost
all the way down fifty floors..."13
Gopher lights are now termed “ball lightning, and are
no longer considered forerunners, but they have become a
persistent part of scientific reportage. In Science,
September 26, 1924, John Kaiser reported that his house
was struck by lightning which spawned a ball of fire,
“seemingly about nine inches in diameter which was thrown
into the centre of my bedroom and exploded with a terrific
noise.”
In that same magazine, for September 10, 1937, Mary
Hunneman, told of a similar encounter at Fitzwilliam, New
13Caplan, Ronald, editor, Down North, p. 164.

Hampshire. While watching a storm she saw it emerge “out
of space” falling through a cellar window into the basement
of her house. “It was a round ball, bronze, glistening with
gleaming rays shooting out from the top and sides; by its
beauty and brilliance reminding one of a Christmas tree
ornament... Probably at this same instant, all the electric
fuses in the house blew out with unusual violence.”
Note also that occasionally on clear moonlit nights,
when a cold front is moving in, reports are made concerning
goof lights. These hazy spots of light moving across the sky
with an undulatory motion, are now considered to be mirage
reflections from a wavy inversion layer, or light scattered
in passing through ground mist.
GOBHAR BACHACH, the “Lame Goat.” Another form for the
Glas Ghaibhneach mentioned above. A remain of the mythic
cow possessed by the Gabhan Saor. In Skye it is said that
the Lame Goat still wanders the countryside finding her
byre in the richest meadow lands. She is always in milk, and
yield enough to supply a force of warriors. Her name is that
given the last sheaf cut at the Harvest Home.
GOCAMAN, GUACAMAN, Eng. cuckoo man, a caller from the
briar, a sentinel or lookout man, an usher or attendant. Also
in Eng. gockman or cockman from Sc. gok-man, a look-out.
From the Germanic gucken, to peep. The Norse gauksman,
their gaukr, cuckoo, Sc. gowk. Related to G. gog, a nod or
tossing of the head and gogaid, a giddy female. A mummer
at the Quarter Day. See geoc.
GOIBNIU, the “Smithy,” or forge-worker, who served the
drink of immortality to the Daoine sidh. He confers with
the Wayland Smith of English mythology, the character
known as Volund in the Norse eddas. It was said that the
Bafinne often came to earth as three beautiful swanmaidens,
and that men who plucked their feathers might
cause them to take human form and mate with them. The
Smith and two brothers did just this, and were able to
confine the fates to an earthly existence for nine years.

After this, the three goddesses escaped into the air. Two
of the brothers went searching for their errant "wives" but
Goibniu knowing it was futile to pursue them remained at
home until he was captured by the king of a neighbouring
island. Eventually the craftsman escaped to the sidh-hills
where he continued to ply his trade. In the war against the
Fomors, this smith magically replaced every broken weapon
with ones “that never miss their mark; no man touched by
them will ever taste life again. And all this is more than
Dolb , the smith of the Fomor, can do.” Refer to goban.
GOIDHEAL GLAS. Also seen as Goidel, Gaedhal or simply
Gael. The mythic son of Niall and Scota, the latter a
daughter of the pharaoh of Egypt. The supposed progenitors
of the Gaelic speakers (the Irish, Manx and Scots Gaels).
GOIRISINN, terror, fear, disgust, detestation, nasty,
horrible, alarming, awful. goir, to call out, cry, crow, OIr
garo, speak. see next entry.
GOISER, pl. goiseran, waits, disguisers, guisers, firstfooters,
the cullain men of the Half and Quarter-Days.
These are the guisers or disguisers of northern England and
the Scottish lowlands. See gighis and Galatae for additional
descriptions of the activities of these mummers. Goisinn, a
snare, goisridh, company, goisdidh, gossip, godfather, from
ME. godsibbe, now gossip.
In pre-agricultural Scotland there were two officially
recognized seasons: summer and winter. The latter,
commencing with the fire-feast of Samhain, was the first
half season. It commenced with the old Gaelic New Year
(November 1). The second half-season was summer,
commencing with the Beltane (May 1). These fire-feasts
have been thought to coincide with the movement of wild
animals to and from mountain pastures. In agricultural
times, two addition half-year celebrations were added to
the others, viz. the Imbolg, corresponding with the season
of foaling for domesticated animals (February 1) and the
Lughnasad, marking the removal of the first crops from the

fields (August 1). Actual holiday celebrations took place
over several days around these dates, but the four firefestivals
together formed the "Quarter-Days" or "Rentpaying
Days" of the Gaelic tuathanachs, or “farmers.”
Their English neighbours had different imperatives
and different Quarter-Days, but in the border regions the
traditions of these holidays have overlapped and melted into
one another. In former times, these dates marked the
appearance of the disguisers, men who represented the
earth-spirits known as the Daoine sidh, or “side-hill
people.” More antiquely, the goisers were thought to be
antique god-spirits, their leader being a man-god "brought
to earth" along with any spirits of evil that plagued the
community at that time. See Galatae.
GOISINN, GOISNE, a snare, Ir. gaisde, OIr. goistibe, cf.
gaoisid. A magical trap.
GOLAMH, the “true” name of Mil orMileus, patriarch of the
“Milesian” forces that finally overcame Ireland. Goat-like,
toothy, lean-jawed, a “gobbler,” or one who speaks a
foreign language. Probably an “endearment” visited on this
king by his Tuathan enemies. Eng. gollar, to bawl or shout.
GOLANACH, two-headed, forked, horned, from gobhlan. Ellis
gives it as “blind in one eye, “ or “one-eyed.” A general
name for foreign visitors especially those from the western
Atlantic. His prototype might have been mac Golb, the ruler
of Magh Mell. He abducted the wife of Fiachna mac Retach
and defeated him in subsequent battles. Laoghaire mac
Crimthann and fifty champions finally took on this Fomorian
and went to Magh Mell. They killed the giant, rescued the
wife, and were richly rewarded. See below.
GOLL, GOILL, distorted face, angry face, a grin, blubber
lipped; EIr. gailleog, a blow on the face, any stranger; a
Gaul. See gall. Note also Goll agus Gairb, “Goll and Garb,” a
noted two-headed monster who lived in ancient times at
Clinne Ridge. His two heads were set on a single neck. This

monster was overcome by Cúchulainn who impaled the head
on a sharpened stake. This tale harks back to the duality of
the creator-god Da. Allusions are made elsewhere to
Fomorian-style three-headed and four-headed creatures.
See Loch Cend and Loch Cimme.
GOLTRIGHE, golanach + treaghaid, two edged + soul
penetrating. "Crying music." Heavily sentimental music
used to reduce men to tears. When the Dagda invaded the
sea-kingdom to retrieve his harp from the Fomors, he called
it magically to his hands and then played the goltrighe and
the suantraighe which reduced the sea-giants to tears, and
then lulled them to sleep. While they slept, Dagda and his
sons lay waste the land of An Domhain.
GON. Bewitch, detroy by enchantment, hurt using the evil
eye, starve in the cold, wound, blast, pique, gall, charm,
fascinate, annoy. Gonach, keen, sharp, bewitching. Gonadair,
man with the evil-eye, gonag, a witch, one who pinches or
bites, a miserable woman, spell, enchantment, as small
portion or bite. Ir. gonadh. wounding, EIr. gonim, I wound, ON.
gunnr, battle, from which Clann Gunn, Skr. han, strike or
slay.
GORAIDH, Godfrey, literally the “god Frey.” MG. Gofraig, EIr.
Gothfraid, ECy. Gothrit. ON Gothröthr or Gudrod. The early
Gaelic is, however, more closely allied with AS. Godefrid,
the Germ. Gottfried. His island was perhaps Fresen (which
see). Frey was a sun god, the equivalent of the Gaelic Lugh.
GORIAS, gor, profit, laughter, pleasure, light, heat, a
summer isle, gorach, silly, thoughtless, mad, a young man;
root word: gau, to be free. One of the three mythic islands
"of the north" where the Tuatha daoine received their
druidic training before coming to Ireland. Urias of the Noble
Nature lived here among men who were described as
“steeped in wisdom.” The Dagda and his sons ravaged this
Otherworld and “out of it came the spear that Lugh carried.”
GORTIGERN. The common language spoken by all men in the

elder days.
GORM GLAS, “Blue-Green,” the sword of Conchobhar mac
Nessa.. This word or “blue” was always substituted for
“green,” which was never mentioned aloud since it was the
totem-colour of the sithe and the gods of the air. Duncan
Reid has noted that many of the Gaels were partially
colour-blind and these two colours were those most often
involved. Thus we note the expressions: gorm thalla, “the
blue hall,”i.e. the sky, but note also an tir ghorm
shleibhteach, the “green mountain land.” Similarly gorm
phrease described a green bush while gille guirmean is a
weed whose blossom is blue in the eyes of most people.
“The hastly pale shades od green are uaine.” Glas was taken
into Gaelic from the Old Norse tongue and is a colour
verging on grey,
GRAG, the croaking of crows, Eng. croak, crake, Lat.
graculus, the noise made by hens. See next.
GRAIGE, superstition.
GRÀIS, a blessing, prosperity, from gràs, grace, from the
Lat. gratia.
GRÀNDA, GRÀDA, ugly, ill-favoured, shameful, unseemly,
nasty, grim; EIr. gránde, teetered, covered with pustules,
one with a skin disease, from gràin, abhorrent, disgusting,
Cym. gruen, rough, grief, the Slavonic, groga, the “horrent
one.” Gràineag, hedgehog. The Eng. grand and gross. Any
powerful, but ugly, leader. Thus, Granda Manann the sea-god
and Grand Manan, an island in the Bay of Fundy, eastern
Canada. Confers with Grannd, Grant, an English family
settled near Inverness and with Eng. grand. from the AN.
grand. In English mythology the grant is a horse-like fay
which breathes out fire and warns humans of danger from
this element.
During the initial era of the fur-trade, in the
sixteenth century, an expedition was undertaken by Etienne

Bellenger who went first to Cape Breton and travelled from
there two hundred leagues down the coast until he came to
villages in which there were “houses made of bark.” Here
he bartered at ten or twelve villages bringing away ore said
to contain silver as well as several varieties of fur.
Bellinger paid forty crowns from trade trinkets which
realized four hundred crowns so he returned to France a
happy man. His voyage had geographical significance since
he noticed Grand Manan Island, charting it as Menane, which
was supposed derived from the Penobscot Menahan.
This island was first described by Hakluyt, who used
the name to describe what is now the Bay of Fundy. Grand
Manan Island was referred to by the local Indians as
ktanagook, “the most important island,” which may explain
why it was represented as being the le Grand Menan on the
maps of Champlain and later voyagers. In any instance
European explorers rarely tagged places with aboriginal
names, preferring those from their own cultures. The
shortening of this name led to the Bay of Fundy being
termed Grand Bay. On at least one early map the Fundy is
designated, in full, as Le Grand Baie de Norumbega, “the
Great Bay of the Northern Forests.” De Monts preferred La
Baye Francoise after the style of the Roman Mare Nostrum
(Our Sea), but none of these names persisted. Basque and
Portuguese fisherman of the sixteenth century called the
waters between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Fondo, a
shortened form of profundo, meaning “deep,” but Ganong
thought that Fundy was derived from an English misspelling
of fendu, “split,” a word that has reference to the fact that
the Bay is ultimately divided into the Minas Basin and
Chignecto Bay at its headwaters.
Notice that an island named Groga-y , the “Isle of
Groga,” the “horrible one,” is represented on one of the
earliest maps of the northeastern coast, that of Oliveriani,
penned in 1510. There is a creature b bearing this name in
Old Norse mythology, and she is Groa, the “Green-maker,”
who attempted to move a flint splinter (representing the
cold season) from the forehead of Thor. Unfortunately she

lost the train of her incantations and the is annoying stone
remained embedded. Guerber says she confers with moongoddesses
elsewhere, which allies her with the summergoddess
Mhorrigan. This sorceress is probably represented
in the Gaelic word grugach, wrinkled which resembles grùig,
one having an “attitude,” churlish, grudging, gruc, sulky, the
Eng. grudge. Note also gróbag, a poor shrivelled woman, thus
the Cailleach bheurr, who is the over-wintering form of
Mhorrigan. A giantess of Fomorian descent. Alsia, the
croaking of crows, which were her totem-animals, greis,
gravel, gris, horror, the Eng. grisly, grugach, the “hairyone,”
a sith or brownie, the word may also suggest “gnarled
trees,” in particular the thornbush.
The English word grey is part of this family. In Gaelic
mythology this goddess is obliquely referred to as the
grisionn, i..e. the gris-fhionn, the “brindled furry-one or the
“grey-white-one.” She is thus, the creature identified
elsewhere as the Bafinn, or “death-woman,” literally the
“white-death,” the banshee or Fate of all men and the gods.
The aforementioned island is usually taken to be
Groais Island off the northeastern coast of Newfoundland
but there is no certainty in this. In later map making
Newfoundland itself is seen represented as Grand Isle while
the adjacent Cabot Strait is marked as Grand Bay.
Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and Grand Manan are
all, at times, identified as “beginning places” in aboriginal
mythology. In each place, tales tell of Glooscap, the godhero
of the Algonquins, entering the Underworld through
caverns and emerging at some other place far away. This is
a metaphor for overcoming death.
GRÁNIA, GRÁINNE, gráinne, a small quantity, grain, corn.
Gaelic gran, kiln-dried grain, coen, grannaidh, hgaving long
hair, Some hold that the Celtic word is borrowed from the
Latin cornus. The daughter of Cormac mac Art ard-righ of
all Ireland.
Fionn mac Cumhail became betrothed in his middle age

to the daughter of Cormac ard-righ, and the Feinn
accompanied him to his wedding feast at Tara. Like Deirdri,
this princess was uncomfortable with the thought of
wedding an “elderly man” no matter how heroic his
reputation. Consequently, she approached Oisin and asked
if he would elope with her. When he refused, she turned to
Diarmuid, who had promised the Òighe that he would never
refuse a damsel in distress. Reluctantly, the “spotted-one”
fled with this lovely into the wilderness of Ulster. Burning
with rage, Fionn pursued.
At first Diarmuid treated Gránnie as a sister, but
ultimately gave in to the sexual urges created by close
company and a common purpose. At first that shared
concern was nothing more than eluding Fionn’s hounds, and
finding the next badger hole where they could hide. In
flight, he was faced with an image of Aonghas who advised
him to “flee from this place and every other place known to
you. Never go into a cave that has a single passageway, and
never take to an island where there are no others
somewhere at hand. Where you cook, eat not; where you eat,
sleep not; where you sleep eat not on the morrow.” At the
first light the pair took this advice and thus avoided the
woman-tracker named Derdu, the chief counsellor and spy of
Fionn.
Even so this tireless woman tracked the lovers at last
to the Dun Da Both, which stood within an ancient cromlech.
There the Clann Morna led by Fionn. The stone-ring was
hard to take having many entrances, and being completely
covered over with rubble in those days. Diarmuid only
agreed to emerge for battle when he saw the shining figure
of Aonghas remove Grannia to the safety of some place
beyond time. He then used his staff to vault beyond the
circle ring of earth known as the mote which stood about
the cromlech, and there made his stand. It is recorded that
Diarmuid moved through the ranks of the Feinn “as a wolf
through a flock of uncertain sheep.” Afterwards, when
Feinn searched through the huge mounds of dead, he found
nothing of his long time adversary.

The head of the Feinn now counted these losses:
Cormac’s daughter, the warrior named Diarmuid, the dead in
battle; the trust of companions in the worth of his deeds,
and his own self-confidence, but still he was unforgiving
and “wanton in his pride.” As for Diarmuid, he retired into
the Brugh na Boyne where he was nursed by Aonghas and
Grainne, “although the life spirit almost fled from his
mouth.” In spite of this Grainne petitioned the High King
that some peace might be made between these recalcitrant
men. Although Fionn protested, the Feinn would no longer
support his personal quarrel with the son of Donn, and thus
the banishment was lifted.
Thus, Diarmuid lived to build the Rath Grannia, and
there he lay abed when his banshee wailed. Not long after
he was invited to join the Feinn in a boar hunt, and Grainne
warned him that she had uncomfortable fortellings. The boar
that was hunted was the son of Roc, and Diarmuid found it
impossible to do the animal any harm with the weapons that
he carried. In fact, the boar charged head on against him,
ripping and goring the hero,leaving him, at last, as dead.
When the Feinn came up to him, it was obvious that their
leader was in a good mood for he said: “Here lies , the
irresistible, it is a pity that all the woman of Ireland are
not gathered to see how he looks at present.” For his part
Diarmuid could only beg for his life, noting that Fionn had
the power to restore it by bringing a victim of hurt water in
his two hands. Although a well of water was not nine paces
distant, Fionn’s hatred would not allow him to help his
former friend and comrade, and he even made as if to bring
water allowing it to drain away between his fingers as he
approached Diarmuid.
Grainne knew the meaning of the parade of men that
came back from the forest, but they bore no corpse, “for
that had been taken away by Aonghas Óg.” This event
eroded the trust of the chieftains of the Feinn for their
leader, and it was said that the keep at Alma became a
cheerless place. Nevertheless, after a year, Fionn

petitioned the widow, and she eventually married her late
husband’s nemesis.
After the marriage, the pair were met by battalions of
men shouting derision and “Grainne bent her head in shame.”
Nevertheless, it was never said that the sovereignty of
earth-goddesses was fair and just and the two remained
wedded until death, but it was also said that “the spirit
was out of the Feinn.” This force was opposed by Cairbre
mac Cormac, and in the end they were killed almost to a
man. As for Diarmuid, he went into the Otherworld by way
of the Brugh na Boann, but his body remained inviolate on a
golden bier near Tara. When ever Aonghas Óg sought
companionship, he breathed into the mouth of the corpse,
and the spirit rushed east over the waters and roused it, so
that this dead man could converse with his foster-father.
GREADAL FHINN, Eng. Fionn’s Griddle. A one-time cromlech
situated beyond Kilchoan, Scotland. Vestiges exist as socket
holes in the ground, and earthenware is found on the site
has been dated at 2000 -1600 B.C. See Fionn mac Cumhail.
GREALACHEAN, “entrail inspector,” a diviner, EIr. ghr, gut
hence the English gore. A druidic specialty. Aged kings who
were low in spirit were often separated from their
intestines while still living. The condition of these entrails
were thought to harbour well, or ill, for the future of the
kingdom.
GRELLACH DOLLAID, GULLACH DOLLAIRB, the Barony of
Rathconrath, Ireland. The secret assembly place for the
Dagda and his sons when they plotted the overthrow of the
Fomorian king named Breas. It is said that the conspirators
included Goibniu, the smith and Daiancecht, the leech. and
they “stopped at this quiet place for a full year, making
their plans in secret.” It was from the councils taken here
that the place was spoken of afterwards as “the Whisper of
the Men of Dea (the Tuatha daoine).” When council was
broken, the warriors agreed to meet at this place every
third year on the anniversary of the date until the

Fomorians were all ousted from Ireland.
GRIAN. grian, obs. land at the bottom of water, now: land,
The Sun, warm, shining. Bil, the death-god, was nicknamed
“the Shining One,” and his holy-day translated as “Mouth of
Fire..” He was obviously as much a part of the sun-cult, and
the panoply of day-gods, as Lugh. In point of fact the sungod
Lugh is nicknamed Lugh Chromain, “Lugh of the Crooked
Hand.” In the guise of Cromm the Crooked, Bil is often
spoken of as “The Day God,” and it is clear that many of the
Beltane altars were once seen as sun-altars. On Mount
Callan, near Ellis, Ireland, the Beltane was celebrated on
midsummer’s day down to the year 1895. Near Macroom
there is a standing stone very clearly designated as “the
stone of the Sun.” The antiquarian Sethrun Ceitinn (!c.
1570-1650) said that almost all the cromlechs could be
associated with the goddess Grainne, whose name may be
taken as Grian, and translated as the “Sun.” Elsewhere it is
said that Éire (Ireland) was first married to mac Greine (the
son of the sun) and one of her daughters was Giolla Greine,
“whose mother was a sunbeam.” The relationship of
daylight and darkness, life and death, summer and winter,
may not be easy to see, but remember that many of the Irish
were located so that they could see the sun-god sink each
evening into his domain within the western sea, and he
invariably rose by morning from the eastern sea. Note also
a woman of this name; a queen of the sidhe, whose palace
was within Pallas Gréine in County Limerick.
The magician who felt that he could influence the fall
of rain conversely knew that he could cause the sun to
hasten to the sky. The best trained ancients were also able
to extinguish the sun, being aware of eclipses and capable
of predicting them.
Quite frequently diseases used to be placed on a mangod
slated for sacrifice, since it was assumed he only had
to carry them for a brief spell before returning to earth, and
that he would leave all illness there on reincarnation. The
sun was also thought of as a god in the sky, sacrificed each

day to the western earth and reborn, on the morning, out of
the eastern womb of Mother Earth.
This was a hidden tenant of Maritime witchcraft as
shown in the acts of Mrs. Baker, of Oyster Pond, N.S.
Parents in that village had a daughter born with a unsightly
birthmark on her head, which conventional medicine could
not remove. When the child was shown to Mrs. Baker, she
said, "The dear little thing; I'm going to do something about
that." Drawing first on Christian rites she went into her
bedroom and opened a Bible on the table. She then said,
"Come over by the window with the setting sun." The
mother held the child on her lap while this practitioner "put
her finger on the baby's head and made a funny noise with
her lips and she did this three times." Afterwards she
commented, "That's all I can do today. I hope it will go
away. If it doesn't bring her back again." Here, it was
assumed that the defect would be carried away with the
setting sun, and it was afterwards noted that "It did
disappear very gradually."
Our witches seemed to have concentrated their effort
on producing or curtailing rain rather than stopping the sun
in the sky or blotting it out. Nevertheless, there is a
persistent belief that the Christian God liked to show his
power at Easter by causing it to dance in the sky at its
rising. People who held this belief said that they observed
the morning sun through black silk cloth or a blackened
glass negative.
See next entries.
GRIANAN AILEACH. A sunny marker. A tumulus, the final
burial place of Nuada of the Silver Hand after Balor killed
him during the second battle of Magh Tuireadh.
GRIANAINECH, one of a sunny countenance, an alternate
name for Ogma.
GRIAN LUGHA, Literally, Lugh The Sun, He was also known as
” the impotent sun, or the “small sun,” when seen between

Samhuinn and Imbolg. Grian, sun, root gher, warm. Lugha,
less from lu, little, the English light. A pale sun. This
was the sun shadowed by the Cailleach bheurr, or “Winter-
Hag” Her sun persisted from November 1 to February 2.
Although her reign nominally ended with Bride’s Day or the
Imbolg (lately termed Candlemas or Groundhog Day) she has
never been known to lay down her power-rod without a
struggle. It is she who raises the storms of spring, and in
the week known as An Cailleach she makes a final effort to
retain control. Latha na Cailleach, the Old Hag’s Day (March
25; New Year’s Day prior to calendar reformation in 1600),
is the traditional date for her final overthrow, her power
being completely gone by the rise of the Samh on the first
day of May. Note correspondence of lugha with the defeated
(and thus ineffectual) god Lugh (see note under this
heading).
The ancient Gaels addresssed the sun as follows:
O, thusa fein a’ siubhlas shuas,
Cruinn mar lan-sgiath chruaidh nan triath!
Cia as a tha do dhearra gun ghruaim,
Do sholus tha buan, a ghrain!
He, of course faced the rising sun in the east. Hence
the Gaelic expression for rightness of pursuit, Bheir e fa ‘na
ear e, “He brings it to the east.” This has the sense of “He
gives the matter proper attention.” At dusk, the following
was thought appropriate:
An d’fhag thu gorm astar nan spear,
A mhic gun bheud, as or-bhuidh ciabh!
Tha dorsan na h-oidhche dhuit reidh.
Tha paillinn do chlos ‘s an iar.
Thig na stuaidh mu’n cuairt go mall
Ag coimhead fir a’s gloine gruaidh.
GRIAN-SHAM-STAD, Summer Sun pause. The summersolstice.
GRIANUISG, summer-water, a silly person, fay-person, the

Daoine sidh.
GRIBH, obs. Griffin, warrior, a finger. Gribhean, a griffin.
Grib-longach, a griffin.
GRIGIREAN, GRIGLEACHAN, GRIOGLACHAN, GRIGIREAN, the
constellation known as Charles's Wain (Wagon), Odin's Wain.
Hugh’s Wagon; home to the Gaelic Oolathair, their creatorgod.
Stars known as the Pleiades, anciently the
“Allfather’s” court. The Dagda’s constellation. Griogag, a
pebble, a bead (in the sky), from the root gris, gravel.
GRIOGCHAN, griog, crystal, obs. constellation, the stars of
the heavens.
GRIOS, entreat, pray, from the earlier grios, heat,
encourage, incite, “rake up a fire.” Gris, fire, Skr. ghramsa,
sun, heat, sunshine. Note the implicit reference to the pagan
fires and the old pagan god Lugh.
GRIS, horror, pimples, redness, fire, dt’s, termor, terror,
shiver, prickly heat. Sweat produced by fear, a horrified
expression; from Scand. grise, to shudder, the English
grisly. Grisonn, gray, death-like in complexion, conferring
with MEng. gris, having a gray fur.
GRODAG, GROBAG DUBH. grod, rotten;, putrid, proud, overly
intelligent, cross-tempered, dubh, black, a shrivelled old
woman. Another name for the baobh or Gaelic witch.
GRÚACACH, GRÚAGACH, hairy, long-haired, a maiden, a
woman with a daughter, a brownie, a banshee, sometimes a
philosopher, a conjurer or instructor. Rarely the chieftain of
a clan, from gruag, a woman, wife, a wig, having lots of
hair, maned. Campbell defines this as “‘air of the head.”
Ellis says it confers with “an ogre or monster, enchanter or
wizard.” An unkempt wizard or enchanter. Eng. crumple.
Linguistically related the Dark Lord, the old god named
Cromm. The beansith or glaistig of the castle, cattle fold,
sheep pen, or dairy in Skye.

“If the herder fell asleep and neglected his task, she
tended the cattle herself, and at night would keep the
calves away from their dams and preserve the substance of
the milk. But she expected a “quid pro quis” for her
services, and would beat with a small wand those who
neglected to propitiate her with a daily offering of milk.”
Highlanders have said that the “long-haired one” was
formerly a “professor” or “master of arts,” “the one that
taught feats of arms.” In mythology this creature is
mentioned as “the learned Gruagach, a druid in his glory.”
Demoted, he became one like the Greogaca who haunted the
small island of Inch near Easdale, Scotland. “(He) is the
phantom of that same Druid, fallen from his high estate,
skulking from his pursuers, and really living on the milk
left for them by those whose priest he had once been.” It
was said that this particular bodach was a retainer to the
Macdougalls of Ardincaple; “He takes care of their cattle in
that island day and night...” A gruagach is said assigned to
Skipness Castle, “and is still remembered as a supernatural
female who did odd jobs about the house for the maids and
lived in the ruin.” There is another in Kerrisdale, Gaiurloch,
Ross-shire. All of these may be the same as the Groac’h of
Brittany, reputed to be a druidess who had a seat of learning
on an island. These creatures are associated with the
Otherworld.
In 1867 Kenneth MacLeod reported thgat one of these
was seen “standing on the Laig brae in Eigg and she was
designated by the harvesters who saw her as:”a woman of
the other world.” Campbell equates them with the seagiants.
In a few of the tales their descendants described
them as “a wise,learned race, given to mahgic arets, yellow
or ruadh, auburn haired, possessing horse and knowing how
to tame them... Able to put the waters between themselves
and their pursuerers, good looking, musical, possessing
treasure and bright weapons. Using king’s sons and other
races as slaves, and threatening to eat them...given to
combing their hair wi.th gold and silver combs...” Therefore,
the famhair. See also Morgau

GRUGACH AN UBHAIL. The “apple monster.” These creatures
were sometimes represented as throwing a golden apple in
the dirction of anyone who approached. Those who caught
the apple and returned it with full force killed the beast,
otherwise the unfortunate traveller died.
GRUNNDAIL, grunnd, ground, well-grounded, sensible,
careful, frugal, a sage, grunn, a handful, a crowd, Br gronn, a
heap. Similar to the English grain, thus a collector of grain.
Also a river monster; perhaps from Sc. grunnd, bottom,
channel in water, ON. grunnr, bottom of the sea or river, Eng.
ground. Note Beowulf’s troubles with the Grendel and the
Grendel-mother.
GU, evermore, eternally.
GUAG, guath, common, traditional, a Quarter-Day fool,
simpleton, clown, a giddy, whimsical fellow, having a
spayed-foot, lamed (to prevent escape), Ir. guagin, folly, a
silly one, from ME. gowke, a fool, cf. Eng, gawky. Also G.
guga, a silly “goose.” Gugail, the clucking of poultry. Same
as guacaman, gocaman, geoc, guraiceach.
GUAIRDEAN, a whirlwind, vertigo; similar to cuairt, to
travel in circles. The sithe in travel. Men often bowed, or
lifted their hats to these “good neighbours” as they passed.
See next.
GUAIRDEAN CEARRACH, the “Left-handed Guardian.” an
acronym for the Cailleach bheurr, the “Winter Hag.”
“Guardian” has reference to her duties as protector of the
animals of the wild and her stewardship over the Cauldron
of the Deep.
GUCAG DHOSGACH, "the ferry boat of sorcery." Gucag, bubble,
bell, globule, bud; do + sgath, negative prefix + a shade, a
shadow. The "crystal-craft" used in transport between
Britain and the "dead lands of" the west. Confers with
"Wave-sweeper" the death-ship piloted by Manann mac Ler

once each year at the Yule. Infrequently described as
constructed of “copper.”
GUIDH, “pray thou,” a prayer, wish, Irish, guidhim, I pary,
guidhe, a prayer, an imprecation; gada, gath, voice, from
gad, to speak; root-word ged, god, similar to ghedh. to ask (a
favour). Also cf. with AS. bidden and the English bid, gad,
gab. Wishes directed towards God, the gods or toward
nature-spirits.
GUILEAGAN, from gaileag, the chirping of birds, the uttering
of a charm; refers specifically to the old custom of boiling
eggs out-of-doors on Latha Guileagan, freely translated as
"Easter Sunday." See guag, above. Easter is, of course, a
pagan feast-day confiscated by the Christians. It formerly
belonged to the old Norse goddess Eastre, or Ostara, who is
the equal of the Gaelic goddess Bridd, the patron of married
love, hearth and home. This goddess was too popular to
dismiss as a baobh, so she was elevated to Saint-hood as
Saint Brigit. The Saxon goddess who survives in our word
"Easter" was also considered a fertility goddess, the symbol
of a reborn earth after the long "death" of winter. It was
customary to celebrate this day by exchanging brightly
coloured boiled eggs, for the egg was considered symbolic
of the beginnings of life and new things. The early
Christians continued this tradition saying that the egg
symbolized the resurrected Christ. In various parts of
Germany stone altars still stand which are called Ostara
stones. They used to be crowned with flowers in the spring
and were the sited of ritual and informal sex, great bonfires
and left-handed circle dances. These were popular "games"
practised well into the last century in spite of the
denunciations of Christian priests and philosophers. In
Scotland it is still the custom, in the rural outback, to roll
these eggs down steep hills, the damage they incur being
considered an omen for the egg-runners.
GUN DOL AOG, “taken away by Aog,” putrefaction which was
attributed to the presence of the spirit known as an-t Aog,
the death-god.

GURAICEACH, a plucked bird, a blockhead, hair-brained,
queer, a big awkward fellow, an unfledged bird, simpleton,
fool. A cuckoo. See geoc, gocaman, etc.
GUTH, a bard, to taunt or defame, to ill-name, erudition,
having a voice (and using it). Guthach, noisy.
GYVE, a magical blemish placed on the forehead of an enemy.
See glam dicend.